Blood is Forever
by samcarter34
Summary: The Original family. The name has been spoken in whisper and fear for a millennium. The remaining members returned the great city of New Orleans to reclaim their old home, and restart their family. But, chaos has always followed them, and so it did. Now, still caught in their defeat, they must steel themselves, for in a family of immortals, no one truly ever dies.
1. Chapter 1

They gathered in small groups at first, appearing one or two at a time. Soon however, there were hundreds of them. The starlings gathered in the graveyard, answering a call they could not consciously hear, yet knew they had to answer. As they began singing an ancient song, they saw what appeared to be a young girl walking among the crypts and tombstones.

The starlings watched the girl with fascination. She walked as if she had not used her limbs for some time, which was true; after all, until a few moments ago, the body of this girl had been dead.

She walked through the graveyard, and into the city, yet none saw her, for she did not wish it. Yet the starlings did, they could sense her, and followed her, singing their ancient song all the while.

The people of New Orleans could not hear the song, not consciously, yet they could feel in on a deeper level, and, though beautiful, it filled them with unease.

The great werewolf packs, coming in from far and wide sensed it, and if fill them with a sense of awe.

The few remaining vampires sensed it, and crouched a little further into the chosen hiding places.

And in their compound, frozen with the shock of defeat and the grief of loss, the Originals too sensed the song, and, though they could not place it, it filled them with great unease.

The girl walked to the charred remains of an old home, barely left standing after the fires had consumed it. She spared the home only a brief glance, for it was not her purpose.

Finally, she reached her destination just behind the home. An open field that segued into the forests, and the bayous beyond lay before her, with only one mark of artificial make upon it.

A tombstone, of simple, yet elegant design jutted out from the Earth

And she found that she was not alone.

A young boy, no more than twelve, was lying down on the grass before the grave, his black hair melding into the darkness of the night. While his face was impassively watching the stars, his emerald eyes shown with an unknowable emotion.

The girl stared at the young boy for a long time, wanting, yet unable, to say so many things.

After a time had gone by, she turned from the boy back to the tombstone, reading the words engraved upon it.

_ Beloved Mother_

The girl smiled ruefully, despite herself. She wondered; had it been Elijah who had chosen those words? He was the eldest of the remaining children, and he would have thought it appropriate, if only for appearances sake. Or perhaps had it been Rebekah? She still found it in her heart to love her mother, despite everything. Yet, she heavily suspected that it was Niklaus, the words would have, in his eyes, been a form of ironic taunt. The more she thought of it, the more she could hear his mocking tone in the words.

'Definitely Niklaus', she though to herself.

"So much for resting in peace," a voice came from behind her.

She did not turn to meet him, she knew who he was.

"It would seem it was never meant to be so, for us," she answered as the newcomer walked to stand beside her.

The young boy paid no more heed to the newcomer than he did to the girl when she arrived, seemingly content to simple stare at the sky.

The newcomer was a man with dark skin and aristocratic features, and with him and the boy, only one other was missing.

They waited, unmoving, for the final member to join them, but none did.

Finally, the girl, annoyed despite her outward impassiveness, uttered.

"So be it," and waved her hand.

A chill filled the air, and a force attacked the stone, erasing and removing the words, until only a blank rock stood in the ground.

"Come along," she said, turning and walking away, this time more sure of herself in her new body, "we have much to do."

The boy finally stirred, rising from his position to stand by the other, and both uttered at the same time two words that seemed to cause the winds to move, as if nature itself was shuddering at them.

"Yes mother."

And still the starlings sang, happy that their mistress had returned to the after so long, content that soon it would begin, and end.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey so here's chapter. BTW this is essentially my version of season 2, so some things will be the same, others will be different. Also, apologies for any clunky exposition this chapter, there's some things that differ from the show, and it's easiest to write a couple lines of dialogue to show it.**

* * *

Klaus stood there, holding his son, doing his best to remain stoic. The weight of the past day's events, everything that had just happened, still weighed on him like a mountain. Everything had changed, the werewolves and witches allied with each other, the vampires massacred, the Abattoir, their home, barred by magic. And the child, his child, his son, marked for death by his ancient, vengeful mother for reasons he could not even fathom. The New Orleans coven may have seen power in the child, but he knew his mother, everything she did had double and triple meanings. Nothing was ever simple with her.

The car pulled up, and out stepped Rebekah. Klaus couldn't help but smile at that, even after all they had been through recently, she'd still come, at least for this, for the only member of their family that was truly innocent.

"Hello Nik," Rebekah said, there was still stiffness in her voice, though when she saw the child, she couldn't help but smile.

"He's beautiful,"

"Yes," Klaus replied.

"He looks like his mother, I guess that means there's a god after all"

Klaus actually let out a chuckle at that, "but there's a bit of the devil in is his eyes, that's all me."

Suddenly the mood changed, as the reality of what was about to happen laid over them.

"You'll need to find a witch you can trust, one strong enough to hide him,"

"I know what I need to do Nik, and I've already done it," she held up a necklace, with a small Jade stone, "the Gemini Coven's good with cloaking spells, I helped them out a couple centuries ago, now I've collected."

"No questioned asked?"

"None,"

"Good," he said, looking to son, "Goodbye, my boy. This city would see you dead, but I promise that it will be your home, your kingdom. All your enemies will be laid down and turned to dust. Just as my blood runs through your veins, you will return to me."

He handed the baby over to Rebekah, along with two small wooden figurines. One, a knight on a horse, a gift from Klaus to Rebekah ages ago, and, another, a wooden archer, a gift from Mikael to Klaus, Rebekah stared at the toys, doing her best to not show any emotion.

"What's his name?" Rebekah asked.

"…Gideon," Klaus finally said, "his name is Gideon."

Klaus turned around, to return to New Orleans. He heard Rebekah's car start up, but refused to look back.

* * *

17 months later

* * *

"How are things over in the Quarter?" Marcel asked Cami.

"You might want to at least look at me when you ask me that. Technically I'm risking my life by coming over here to talk to you." She replied dryly.

"Sorry," he said turning away from the window, "I've just been feeling nostalgic. And I doubt the wolves would actually kill you. You're still on Klaus' good side."

"Well, to answer your question, tense. Francesca Guerrera and Marco Labonair have taken the lead, though the witches seem to be running things behind the scenes."

Marco Labonair…an image of the 8-foot tall monster roaring from the ceiling of the Abattoir as it threw a broken Elijah to the ground while the Guerreras howled in triumph entered Marcel's mind, and she shuddered.

"How are the humans handling it?"

"The tourism's still going strong, so half of them don't care, the other half are too scared to do anything about the current regime. There's something else too, something people can't put a finger on, but it's worrying. No one feels safe anymore."

Marcel laughed bitterly, "home sweet home."

"There is some good news though," Cami said, walking up to Marcel and sitting down next to him on the couch, "I've heard from Davina. She's ditched her coven, apparently they have a 'don't both me and I won't bother you' scenario."

Marcel's smile was genuine this time, "that's good, good for her."

There were a few moments of silence before Cami continued.

"No one's heard from Klaus though. There have been a couple sightings of Elijah, but none of Klaus. No one even knows where they've shacked up since the witches put a barrier around their home."

"Yeah see, now that doesn't make sense," Marcel replied, "The wolves took over his town, butchered the vampires, probably killed his kid, why hasn't he done anything?"

"His son died, he's mourning."

"No, Klaus knows how to mourn and murder, and he's never been one to sit back and wait. He should have made his move by now, why hasn't he?"

* * *

Davina walked into the record store, passing by a young man with messy, sand coloured hair as she did.

"Well well well, look who's back," Joe, the store owner said, "are you still interested in ancient Icelandic folk music, or have you moved on to Latin Church music now?"

Davina chuckled, "It's not for me, it's for a friend."

Joe smiled and took out a record from beneath the counter; she pulled out her wallet to pay for it, and was just about to leave when he saw a few other people walked in.

"Hey Davina," Oliver said, smiling, while more werewolves walked in, "How you've been?"

"What are you doing here?" Davina demanded, not bothering with pleasantries.

"Just coming down to see this old staple of the Quarter, hey haven't seen you around lately. Shame, the other Harvest Girl's really helpful for us."

"She's making you moonlight rings in exchange for you being muscle for the witches. That's not help, that's an alliance."

"Whatever you call it," Oliver said, walking over to the counter.

"What are you doing?" Davina asked

"My job, hey Joe."

Joe didn't even bother talking, just started running out at full vampire speed, only to be stopped by even more werewolves.

They were all about to attack, fangs bared, when Davina began chanting a spell that momentarily paralyzed the werewolves.

"Run, Joe, run!" Davina yelled.

* * *

Elijah watched from a nearby rooftop as Joe ran from the store.

'_And what did he expect? Remaining in territory commanded by the wolves?'_ Elijah thought to himself.

"Hello Elijah," a bored sounding voice came from behind him.

Elijah immediately turned to find himself face to face with Marco.

"Facing me in brought daylight with thousands of witnesses, I assume that we're not about to engage in combat."

"We've already danced that dance," Marco replied, "It ended with me ripping your insides to shreds, a benefit of what I am."

"Yes and what, pray tell, are you? I've walked this Earth for over a thousand years, and I've never encountered a werewolf like you. The form you take is and 8-foot tall monster with features of both man and wolf, your bite cannot be cured by Niklaus' blood, and you do not seem to require a moonlight ring," Elijah noted, gesturing to Marco's hands.

Marco simply smiled, a animalistic smile.

'_But then, he's always looked more like a wolf masquerading as a man, rather than a man who becomes a wolf'_

"So, if you're not here to face me, or drag me in for being in your territory, why have you approached me?"

Marco waited a few seconds, before glancing down at the scene below, which had cleared up.

"I am not your enemy Elijah. I am not your friend," Marco noted as Elijah began to scoff, "but I am not your enemy. The vampires of New Orleans wronged us, they had to pay for their crimes, and in our realm, the punishment is death."

"And wait did Hayley do?" Elijah nearly snarled, "What did your little sister do, to warrant you handing her and the child over to the witches? To warrant her being made a hybrid?"

"My sister," Marco replied, his voice like steel, "is Andrea Labonair, not Hayley Marshall. As for what she did. She befriended the pack Klaus enslaved, she offered them freedom but in reality arranged for them to be slaughtered. She is a traitor and deserved a traitor's death. I can think of no better fate for her than to be made a hybrid. As for the child, I am the one who told Klaus where the witches were taking Hayley, I" he paused for a moment, and then, taking a deep breath said "I am alpha of my pack. I am their father, and their brother-in-arms. I will do what is best for them. But I never intended for the child to die. If you believe nothing else of me, believe that."

And to Elijah's surprise he did.

'_So why are you here, what could bring you to me, unless'_

"The bombs in the bayou," Elijah whispered.

Marco nodded solemnly, "Francesca tells me that she was under the impression that the bombs would be used against Marcel's crew. I know that that is a lie, but she is alpha of the Guerreras, and along with me, the one who came up with the alliance with the witches and the moonlight rings. She holds great sway over our brethren, I cannot move against her without evidence, which is non existent."

"But," Elijah said, quickly catching on, "if she were to lose her life at the hands of say, the Originals, then justice would be meted out, and you would have to do nothing."

Marco took two objects out of his pocket, a USB drive, and a small, oddly formed crystal, and tossed them to Elijah.

"I would never say anything of the sort," Marco said smiling, "Oh, and if you could find it in your heart to believe a second thing. Believe that I had no part in the creation of the cursed stones that steal your brother's strength. I told Francesca that giving them to her wolves would essentially be giving them bull's-eyes."

With that Marco leapt down from the rooftop and left.

* * *

Klaus sat in the darkness of an old, abandoned, factory, unmoving. The very air around him tense with malice. He'd been still too long, he needed to act, he needed to spill the blood of his enemies and watch in flow down the streets. He needed to stare at their horror filled faced as they begged, first for life, then for death.

"Brother," Elijah's voice echoed across the empty walls.

Klaus did not move, he remained, almost as a statue, yet radiated rage and bloodlust.

'_Not a moment too soon Marco'_ Elijah noted.

"I have good news," He held up papers printed from the USB, "I've found all the rings that steal your strength," he held up the crystal, which he learned was enchanted with a disruption spell, "and I have a plan."

At this, Klaus turned his head to his brother and smiled, like a savage wolf that smelled its prey.

"It's time." Was all he said.

* * *

"My money's on the rocker chick," Josh said jovially.

"She seemed pretty cool," Joe replied, having only recently arrived after narrowly escaping the wolves.

"Wouldn't put any bets down just yet, we need warriors, not lost souls."

"And what exactly is a warrior?" Josh asked, suddenly feeling somewhat nervous.

"A warrior fights for what they believe in," Klaus' voice came from behind them, "A warrior, fights for their family."

* * *

"How you been?" Marcel asked, putting another piece on the go board, while Joe and Josh watched, trying to figure out the rules, and having no luck.

"I've had better days, but finally my luck seems to have changed."

"Really? Then how come you're not out there ripping apart every werewolf until you find those cursed rings?"

"Does everyone know about those?" Klaus asked, annoyed.

"People talk, they never say who has them, but they talk."

"I know." Klaus responded

"How…never mind, so why aren't you out there?"

It was a few moments before Klaus responded.

"The same time as the wolf attack on the compound, the white oak stake went missing."

Marcel sucked in a nervous breath.

"It's in play, and after over a thousand years, I've grown to rather enjoy my life, and am in no interest to see it end."

"So then who has it?" Joe asked.

"Dude, I'm pretty sure Klaus just said the wolves do," Josh answered

"No, they don't. I fought the Guerreras back in the '20's, and let me tell you, keeping cool ain't in their nature. If they had the stake, they'd have used it by now, no doubt about that."

Klaus immediately perked up at the news.

"Well, it would seem that my brother and I have been worrying over nothing," Klaus said, the savage smile returning to his face, making him look rather feral, "So tell me, how would you three like to get back at Francesca for taking your homes."

"Tonight?" Marcel asked, "The full moon's tonight."

"Exactly, they'd never suspect us making our move tonight, and it's recently come to my attention that not all of the werewolves are particularly smitten with her, I think we can count on those ones to give her the push she needs to strike, provided we all play our parts right.

"So, tell me boys, who's up for a wolf hunt?"

* * *

**Again, sorry about the exposition. So, Marco is alpha of the Crescents, Jackson's his second in command. Marco can take the form of a werewolf as seen in things like Underworld, or Vanhelsing.**

**Also, yes the baby's a boy, I like the name Gideon, and it means Great Warrior, and I think that's the kind of name Klaus would give his kid (that or something meaning mass death, but I like this better). Hope is just, way to preachy symbolic for me, given the context**


	3. Chapter 3

Hayley walked around the remains of the wolf village, a blank stare on her face. She hadn't felt anything since she handed her son over to Klaus to be taken away. She felt cold, empty.

There was still a lot of debris from when the bombs went off; with the wolves returning to the Quarter, no one had bothered to fix up this place.

As she walked she found a small teddy bear lying on the ground. She picked it up and stared at it, thinking for a split second

'_Gideon would_'

Before she remembered that he was gone, and it all came crashing back down out.

Feeling as if her lungs were collapsing on themselves, she started gasping for breath, a sick, wet sound, and fell down to her knees. Tears began running down her face as she collapsed onto the ground, sobbing while clutching the bear to her chest.

Birds sang a sad song in the forest, as if trying to share in her grief, her pain.

* * *

She lay there, for how long she did not know, until a voice spoke from behind her.

"It don't do well to stop moving child, not while there be work to be done."

Hayley rose up, still holding the bear, and found herself face to face with the strangest looking person she'd seen in quite a while.

The woman was black, probably mid 40's, Hayley couldn't quite tell, she was dressed in clothes that looked like hand-me-downs, and she seemed to have…bones woven into her long, curly hair.

"You're a witch," Hayley snarled, her changing to show her vampiric lycanthropy.

"Yes, but I be no threat to you child."

"I'm going to give you one minute to explain yourself before I rip your head off!"

"Curb your fire child," The woman said, disapprovingly, "A hot head will only get you burned.

"My name is Mama Brigitte, of the old bayou coven, of the greater Ancestral coven of New Orleans. One facet among many of a most ancient coven. I wish you no harm child, I be simply here to tell you that events be moving, best to move with them, it does no one good to be left behind."

Brigitte waved her hand, and the dirt on the bear fell to the ground.

"Good day, Hayley."

With that, she turned and seemed to meld into the shadows cast by the trees.

* * *

Francesca sat at her desk, tapping her pen onto the desk waiting for the Harvest girl to finally come over.

'_I called her over a half and hour ago, I swear if she does not get over here in the next five minutes….'_

Francesca's brothers glanced at each other, their sister had been becoming more and more agitated recently, and it was starting to worry them.

They glanced over at the security guards, whom were all showing similar signs of worry.

Oliver walked in, escorting a teenage girl with dark hair, and even darker eyes. A young man walked in with her, but Francesca didn't even bother looking at him, instead glaring daggers into Cassie.

Most of the wolves avoided Cassie's eyes, there was something in them, something…wrong.

"Where have you been? I called you over a half an hour!" Francesca roared, not caring about the feeling of unease the girl engendered in her compatriots.

"I have duties to my coven Francesca," Cassie responded in a deadpan expression. Her fellow witch chuckled under his breath.

"Whatever, we had a deal Cassie. Your kind don't interfere with us when dealing with the vampires in the Quarter."

"Davina is not part of our coven anymore, the rules don't apply to her."

"Make them apply!" Francesca snarled, walking right up to Cassie's face.

Cassie stared at Francesca with a blank look on her face, clearly unintimidated.

"We'll see what we can do, have a good day, Ms. Guerrera."

* * *

"She's unravelling at the seams, poor thing. The inaction is just too much for her."

"Perhaps she should have learned something of what it means to be a werewolf before she triggered the curse."

"Indeed."

* * *

Hayley walked into the factory, still holding the bear, and was surprised to find a small group there. She'd expected only Elijah and Klaus.

"It's time," Elijah said.

Hayley simply nodded.

* * *

"The plan is simple," Elijah informed the gathered group, "though it depends a great deal on everyone playing their role correctly."

"Joe," Elijah gestured towards the vampire, "Will return to shop, where there will no doubt be wolves waiting. He will offer information on the white oak stake in exchange for his life. Given the mental state that Francesca is in, there is little doubt that she will take the bait.

"Joe will lead Francesca to Cami," Elijah pointed towards her, "who will in turn lead them to the old foundry."

"Which leads them to us," Marcel finished, glancing at Josh, "There's enough wolfsbane stocked in there to take out every werewolf in the continental United States."

"Um, I'm not exactly a fighter," Josh quipped.

"You won't have to fight," Marcel assured him, "Just lock the door when they come in, I'll handle the rest."

"Yes, now Joe," Elijah ordered, "you will have to get out of there the moment that you deliver the news of the stake. It should be enough to by you temporary freedom."

Joe nodded, "whatever happens, happens."

"The rings we are looking for are different from the others. The normal rings are plain, the only thing remarkable about them is the stones. They are, quite simply, an example of function over fashion. However, the ones that sap my brother's strength are golden, and inlaid with exquisite designs," Elijah held up a file and started passing its contents around, "they are held by Francesca, her brothers, and the rest are scattered amongst her higher level security. Know these faces, memorize them."

"Kill them," Klaus joined in, to a slight chuckle among the vampires.

"Where did you get this information," Cami asked, looking at her copy.

"From Marco."

"Marco!?" Hayley asked, "He handed me over to them, why would he help us?"

"He's not helping us," Elijah responded, "He's using us to deal to kill Francesca so that she can pay for bombing the bayou, he is currently trapped by politics. Which leads me to the final part of the plan, where the two of you come in," Elijah said, looking at Hayley and Klaus.

Elijah took out the crystal that Marco had given him, and then twisted it, breaking it into two even pieces.

"I have seen a crystal such as this once before, it is bound to a disruption spell. Essentially, removing the power of any mystic objects in the area, for a time. Through it onto the ground, shatter it and these objects will be rendered powerless. Use the first half to remove the barrier surrounding our home. That will alert the witches, who will inform the werewolves. They will not miss the chance to take you in brother, they will move for you. When the arrive, break the second half. The moonlight rings will be temporarily removed of power, and the wolves will begin to turn, also, any of the cursed ones in the area should lose their ability to steal your strength."

"What will you be doing?" Hayley asked.

"I will be going to the Guererra home, just in case any of them decide to stay away from the fight. Now, does everyone understand what they're supposed to be doing, every role must be played perfectly."

Everyone nodded.

"Good," Klaus said, then there's only one thing left.

He opened a crate, revealing several glasses, bit himself, and bled into them.

"Wouldn't want anyone dying from a wolf bite tonight."

* * *

The plan nearly went off without a hitch. One by one, the Guererra pack moved like the pawns they did not even realize they were.

They put up a good fight, had it not been for Klaus' blood rendering the vampires immune to the werewolf bite for a time, they wolves probably would have won.

As it is, though, Francesca didn't quite buy Joe's story, and simply ripped his heart out.

To the surprise of everyone, when the effect of the crystal ended, the barrier around the Abattoir did not return. Perhaps the witches had been amused by the events, enough to grant their enemies a small boon.

* * *

"You're certain this will work?" Klaus asked as Elijah poured water onto the stones.

Elijah simply allowed the cracking sound to serve as his answer.

"This was my fault," Klaus said, the tension not quite having left him, "I came up with the idea for the moonlight rings, I decided to take command of the wolves, if I hadn't…"

"Marco and Francesca had been planning this ever since they found out about Gideon's existence brother, this would have come to pass one way or another."

Klaus simply turned his head upward to the second floor, where the nursery was.

"But now there's a weapon in play that can destroy us. I am the reason that events conspired to make it so."

"Niklaus," Elijah began, but Klaus simply stood up and walked away.

* * *

Elijah found Hayley in the nursery, the putting the bear she was holding earlier into the crib.

"I assume that Ms. Guererra is dead."

"I gave you her ring, didn't I," Hayley replied, not even looking at him.

"Just making sure, you could have allowed her to live, like you did Oliver."

"But I didn't," She replied, turning to him, "I couldn't…she was already dead when I got there."

"What?"

Hayley sighed, "the car was turned over, the door ripped off, and a dismembered corpse lying around in several pieces. The ring, and the hand that was wearing it, impaled on a nearby tree. If what you said before was true, then probably Marco decided to deal with Francesca personally, now that there's no one to look to closely into her death."

"Then what's troubling you?"

"I, I killed eight werewolves last night, eight of my own people. I was going to kill Francesca, and you know what? I didn't feel a thing about! I didn't feel conflicted, I didn't feel happy! I just went to do it!"

Hayley looked like she was going to cry, but refused to, holding herself together.

"Vampirism heightens emotion, what you're feeling now is perfectly nat-"

"Do not say natural! Whatever you do, do not say that. Nothing about what I am is natural Elijah!

"What am I? I felt nothing when a ripped those people apart, people who were just doing what they were told. A monster is someone who enjoys inflicting pain and death on the world, but, what do you call someone who does it without feeling a thing?"

Elijah could not find an answer.

* * *

Davina walked by the record shop, only to see it was closed. She heard someone whistling a tune, before…

"That sucks," A voice from beside her said.

She turned to see the young man with the messy sand brown hair that she'd passed while coming in last time.

"Yeah, I wonder what happened?"

"Don't know. But now what are you going to do? I don't know anyone else who sells ancient Icelandic Folk music."

"It wasn't for me," Davina said, smiling "It was for a friend."

"Interesting friend, I'm Frank by the way, but please call me Frankie, that way I don't sound like a business man."

Davina chuckled, "I'm Davina."

* * *

"Uneventful trip?" Mikael asked, as Davina returned with nothing.

"Store's closed," Davina said, refusing to back down. He didn't scare her, she owned him.

"Well then, how about you get back to work? The sooner you finish your spell, the sooner I can finally kill Niklaus."

"I'll finish it when I'm good and ready," Davina retorted, yet nonetheless, the sat and began to continue, looking over the spell in Esther's grimoire, and then to her own notes.

"Having difficulty?" Mikael asked mockingly.

"It's a simple unlinking spell, it's no trouble at all."

"Simple? Esther's one of the most powerful witches in history, vampirism is one of the most complicated spells every conceived, even isolating one small part of it would take the skills of a master. That a novice even presumes to be capable of spellcraft on that level is simply a show of your arrogance, little witch."

"And what makes you such an expert?"

"I've known Esther for decades, I watched her practice her craft. With her it was watching the creation of art, with you it's watching paint dry."

Davina glared at him, before glancing poignantly at her bracelet, the dark object that bound him to her. The only think in existence he hated almost as much as Niklaus.

With a simple grunt her turned to face the closed window, holding, as always, the white oak stake that would someday turn the traitorous bastard to ash.

As Davina continued working, she began humming a tune that had gotten stuck in her head.

If she had seen Mikael's face, she would have seen a sudden flash of recognition in his eyes, and a very cruel smile forming on his lips.

* * *

Cami walked quickly, afraid of being late.

"Hi," she said, finally arriving, "Mr. Griffith, I can't thank you enough for this opportunity."

"Please, Camille, for the purposes of these meetings, call me Vincent.

* * *

"Francesca has been killed, it is believed that the hybrid Hayley is responsible," the witch said towards Cassie.

Cassie wasn't looking at the witch, instead she was watching a young boy with dark hair and emerald eyes, as he stared at different flowers, before picking one.

"Thank-you for the information," Cassie responded, and please, on behalf of all facets of the coven, give our sincerest regrets."

The witch nodded and turned to leave, in truth, happy to be away from the strange girl.

Except, she was not a girl, and had not been for quite some time.

"Mother," the body of Vincent spoke, entering the living room of the mansion they had recently purchased.

"Finn," Esther said, smiling, "did she buy it?"

"Entirely,"

"Humans are weak," the little boy said, "they are far too open to trusting the wrong people."

"Now Henrik," Esther scolded, though there was no real force behind it, "they have their uses."

"They definitely do," a young man with mess, sand brown hair said, walking in only half dressed.

"Kol," Esther said, doing her best not to sound annoyed.

"What? I was locked in a box for over a century, I'm making up for lost time, besides they were more than willing," He responded, slipping down into one of the chairs.

"I seem to be doing just fine," Finn retorted, not bothering to hide his annoyance.

"Well, no offense darling, but, unlike you, I'm not content with 'just fine'."

"Why you…"

"Enough, both of you," Esther said quietly, "Desist with this puerility.

Francesca is dead"

That got the brother's attention. Henrik walked over and sat beside his mother on the small couch she was seated on.

"Tried to blow down the brick house did she?" Kol asked sarcastically.

"With Francesca dead, and Marco simply wanting to remain neutral, any werewolf that still thirsts for vengeance will fall to me. The witches have already recognized us as our own facet. With the vampires gone, there's nothing to stop us from taking root, in our new home.

Finn, Kol, Henrik," she looked at each other them, "be ready, we have a family reunion to plan."

* * *

**So, there's chapter three. Hoped you liked it, reviews would be welcome.**


	4. Chapter 4

Mikaelson Village, 901 AD

Niklaus could smell blood. He told himself to calm down even as his eyes darkened, and his teeth turned to fangs. His family had only become immortal a few days ago, and it had been an uneasy time. The sun burned them, keeping then trapped in the shadows, and the lack of sun was grating. He looked around the village, the people usually did their best to keep inside at night now, even the Beasts feared what they had become, perhaps because of the death of Henrik...

'_No_' he thought to himself, _'Do not think of it,_' if the hunger was fire, then the rage at the thought of what happened to his beloved little brother was an inferno, and the grief...

Best not to think of it.

'_Funny, it's usually louder than this', _he thought as the scent of blood became even stronger, stronger, far too strong.

Why was it so strong? Why was it so quiet?

The answer fell on him in a horror.

"FATHER!" He screamed even as he allowed his senses to take over, following the scent at inhuman speed. He could sense his father behind him, moving at equal speed.

Bodies. Dozens of them. Men, women, even a child or two, all surrounded the clearing. Niklaus felt like barfing, though there was a part of him, a feral, hideous part that wanted to rip the corpses apart and devour what little blood may remain in them.

Mikael put a hand on Niklaus' shoulder, hard like steel. the silent meaning clear, and enough to make Klaus reign in his bloodlust.

And in the center of the bodies, lay a young native woman with a man laying over her, kissing her neck. No, not kissing, biting, devouring.

"Kol." Mikael said, rage and, was it...fear, in his voice? Klaus did not know, he'd never heard Mikael afraid before.

Kol looked up at them, his face covered in gore from his victims, at first confused, then afraid, and then, then a look Niklaus would never forget.

Kol smiled.

* * *

New Orleans, Present Day

Kol walked down the streets of the French Quarter with a smirk on his face, watching all of the faceless people. So secure in their safety, so absorbed in their ridiculously petty lives, so utterly foolish.

As he was walking, he spotted someone who wasn't faceless, a teenage girl walking around a restaurant.

Smiling, Kol b-lined for Davina

"Hey Davina," Kol said, doing his best Cajun accent.

"Frankie, hey," Davina said, soundly pleasantly surprised, "What are you doing here?"

_Spying on you because mommy dearest thinks you're probably going to wind up being a pain in the ass and mess up her plans._

"Oh, just walking around, not too familiar with this part of town, so I thought I'd take a trip and get my bearings."

"Oh, well I could show you around?" Davina offered brightly

_Oh joy, a teenage tour guide, just what I always wanted. But, a plan is a plan._

"Sure," Kol replied, smiling and turning to follow her.

* * *

"Niklaus this is absurd," Elijah admonished, "sending Hayley after the witches."

"She needed to left off some steam, I thought the witches would make a suitable target." Klaus replied, already turning away from his brother.

"Well you thought wrong," Elijah stated, using his speed to intercept his brother.

"You defend the witches!?" Klaus began to holler.

"No, I defend my family, which is difficult to do when you insist on attacking a powerful coven that we know is being spearheaded by our mother. She, who made us and remade us, she who has come closer to wiping us out than anyone, even out father. When you attack the witches, you attack her, and when they retaliate, it shall be she that retaliates. Are you prepared for that brother?"

Klaus bowed his head for a moment, as the reality of Elijah's words settled over him

"If I don't do something with her, she's just going to do it anyway." Klaus replied

"Take her to the bayou, see if there's any wolves left that have not joined the witches, perhaps her people will be able to help her remind herself of who she is."

"The wolves!? They had her executed!"

"And she paid that price, Marco's willingness to aid us against Francesca does show that he does not view her with enough disdain to actively go against her, and other wolves may be the same."

Elijah turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Klaus asked

"There's still a weapon out there that can kill us, I mean to find it."

* * *

"Well, gotta go" Kol said, at this point straining to keep the accent going, "My folks ain't the kind of people you wanna get on the bad side of, and they'll be startin' to worry soon."

"Sure, hey, do you want to meet for dinner later?" She asked nervously.

"Like a date?"

"Um...yeah."

_You owe me one, mother._

"Sure, Rousseau's?"

Davina nodded, before hailing a cab.

Kol turned and started walking through the surburban area, looking for his target.

Finding the house, he walked up to it and knocked on the door.

"Yes," the occupant asked.

'Hello, Mr. McDonald? My name is Kol, I'm here on behalf of my employer..."

Mr. McDonald groaned, before waving him in before he could finish speaking.

The moment the door was closed, Mr. McDonald asked

"What does the bitch want now?"

"She wants to know the exact number of women you raped." Kol replied casually

Mr. McDonald's face froze in shock, before contorting in rage.

"I NEVER-"

With a casual flick of his wrist, Kol had the man on the ground spasming in pain.

"Oh but you did, and my employer has use for someone like you. Type AB positive, right?"

"What?" The poor idiotic fool said, crying.

Kol simply smirked at him, "I'll take that as a yes, let's just say you're making a donation to a noble cause."

Kol muttered a small phrase, and Mr. McDonald passed into unconsciousness.

* * *

"Being a vampire's not for everyone, it's powerful. Anger becomes rage, sadness becomes anguish. But, if you can learn to control it, it can be amazing. Happiness becomes pure unadulterated pleasure, taste, texture, all of it can become bliss."

Marcel walked around the small gathering of vampire hopefuls. It had taken awhile to get to this point, weeding through hundreds of people to get through to these few.

"Marcel." Elijah's voice rang out from behind the group.

"Okay everyone, go inside for a bit, think over your decision, I'll be in in a moment."

Marcel walked over to Elijah.

"Didn't expect to see you in all the way over here."

"Didn't expect to see you building another vampire community," Elijah replied in a serious tone, "but getting back on the saddle and all that I suppose."

"Why are you here?" Marcel asked abrasively.

"The White Oak Stake is still missing, I require a witch's help, and since the vast majority of them have fallen under the sway of my dearest mother, Davina is the only one that can be called upon."

"Well that's going to be somewhat difficult, seeing as she hates you."

"But she doesn't hate you."

Marcel groaned

'_Just when I finally get away from these people.'_

"Fine, I'll give her a call."

* * *

Davina continued working on the de-linking spell, yet, to her intense annoyance and chagrin, she was getting nowhere.

She looked over to Mikael, who was standing, facing the closed windows, the stake still in his hand.

"I...need your help."

Mikael turned around, his face stoic, though Davina could sense a smugness in his eyes.

"Finally realized you're out of your depth have you?"

Davina glared at him, but still turned to offer him a look at the spell.

* * *

Hayley and Klaus walked through the bayou, looking for any remnants of the werewolf pack.

"There's no one here," Hayley said in a dead tone.

"No, there's still some of them out here," Klaus replied, "I can smell them."

"Why are we really here? They've all shown that they think I'm nothing but a filthy traitor." A little emotion creeped in, despite Hayley's attempt to subdue.

"And for that, they condemned you to a traitor's death, which you endured. The payment is done, it's not your fault that you continued to exist."

"They don't want me, they didn't want either of us."

"Hayley," Klaus said, doing his best to look sympathetic, "Marco is the one who told me where you were, he purposefully avoided biting Elijah during their fight because he knew that my blood could not heal his bite. He did all he could to prevent the witch's from killing our son."

"That's the first time you've mentioned him in months," Hayley replied, suddenly savage, "Have you thought of him once!?"

"I think of him every day," Klaus, equally savage, though quieter, "I think of the things that I would do to the people who'd see him harmed. We have different ways of bearing the burden of his absence, but bear it we both do. And I'd advise you to never forget that."

Hayley looked like she was about to retort, when she suddenly caught a scent.

Klaus smiled, "It's them."

Moving quickly they found a small group of the werewolves gathering materials and supplies.

"What are you doing here?" One of the wolves, Oliver, asked.

"I could ask you the same question," Hayley retorted, glancing around the small clearing, more of a campsite, "I thought all of the werewolves had moved into the city."

Oliver glanced down for a second, and that was all Klaus needed.

"Unless you lot weren't invited," he said, smiling, "What? Did Marco not appreciate your presence? Let me guess, you were banished," Klaus pointed a finger towards Oliver, "For leaving the Crescents and joining the Guererras, and the rest of this lot had sided with you during your attempt at usurping him when the bombs went off."

Oliver grimaced, but said nothing. The other wolves glanced at each other worriedly.

"It can be difficult to make it in this place all alone, your own kind have rejected you, perhaps it's time to form a new pack."

"You think we'll work with you? A couple of hyb-"

Before Oliver finished speaking, Klaus threw him to the ground.

"This lot need to learn respect." Klaus said, looking at Hayley.

"Teach them," he said simply, before walking away.

"Where are you going?" Hayley asked

"To speak to the witch that dares to make moonlight rings without my permission. She needs a lesson in what can and cannot be done in my city."

"What about Marco?"

"I'll deal with him."

"Klaus!" But Klaus had already dashed off.

* * *

"What?' Mr. McDonald asked, groggily as he woke up, he trying to moves his hands, to find that they were chained to the wall. "Where, where am I?"

"There's no point in asking, or yelling," a female voice echoed through the dark room, "no one's going to answer."

As Mr. McDonald's eyes adjusted to the lack of light, he found five others, sitting in the room, chained to the wall as well.

"What's happening? What's going on?"

As if in response, the door opened. A young boy, no more than 12, walked in carrying a glass. He walked up to Mr. McDonald, and offered it to him. Mr. McDonald took it and was about to drink, when he noticed the others shaking their heads. He was about to throw it to the side, when he suddenly found his limbs acting without his control.

After having the drink forcedly consumed, he glared at the kid, he simply stared back without emotion.

"What's going on?"

"You're a bad man," the boy replied, his voice monotonous, "You deserve to die, at least now your death will have a positive outcome."

Mr. McDonald stared at the glass, suddenly very afraid. However, the kid, face still stoic, and unblinking, Mr. McDonald suddenly realized, the kid hadn't blinked once.

The kid turned and walked away.

"Why not just do it now?" Mr. McDonald hollered, using the last of his bravado.

The kid simply turned and stared at him, then pointed at something before closing the door and walking away.

Mr. McDonald looked over and gasped. Chains, There were six more slots for chains.

* * *

"How are our guests?" Esther asked Henrik serenely. Sitting on a chair in the family room of their new abode.

"The new one is actin up," Henrik replied, no emotion in his voice.

Esther beckoned him closer, and then began stroking his hair.

"It is to be expected, no matter, they won't be complaining much longer."

Henrik leaned in and closed his eyes as his mother massaged his head. She began humming an old lullaby as he slowly drifted off into sleep."

* * *

"Marcel," Davina said smiling as she walked into his home.

"Hey D," Marcel said, smiling back, genuinely glad to see her, "How you been?"

"Good, went shopping, played tour guide, the usual."

Marcel laughed, before becoming somber.

"Hey D, I'm truly glad to see you after all this time, and glad to hear that you're doing so good for yourself, but I'm afraid I need something from you."

"Ask it," Davina replied easily.

'_This might actually not be so difficult'_

"I need you to do a locator spell on the White Oak Stake,"

Davina's face immediately hardened.

'_Or not' _Marcel sighed internally.

"Did one of them put you up to this?" Davina asked.

"No, D, this is me, asking you."

"They are monsters Marcel, savage, sadistic..."

"If only I could disagree," Elijah said, standing in the passageway behind them before walking up to her, "Yet, unfortunately, history would side with you on this one. Nevertheless, it does not change the simple facts. If Niklaus ides, so does Marcel, Joshua, and every vampire who can trace their line to him, will die if that stake is used on him. So, it would be in your best interest,"

"You don't get to say what is or isn't in my best interest," Davina interrupted, "Your family, ever since you came to this city, you've acted as if you had all the power, and that everyone else had to be afraid, Now, you and Klaus get see what that feels like."

Shooting an accusatory glance at Marcel, Davina stomped out of the compound.

"I told you," Marcel said, doing his best to keep control over his anger, "To let me handle it."

"I knew you weren't going to succeed," Elijah said, eyes still on the passageway from which Davina left, "I had suspected for some time actually, since our victory over the Guererras, yet I had to see for myself."

"See what?"

"I explained it to her, I all but drew her a picture of what would happen to you and Joshua should the stake be used, and yet, she brushes it off so cavalierly. For months we've been worried about the wolves and the witches, we failed to take into account a third party, aligned with neither."

"Wait," Marcel interjected, "You're saying that..."

"She does not care about the risk to your life because she knows that there is none. She does not worry about the stake because she is the one who possesses it, and probably has ever since it was first stolen."

* * *

Davina walked into Rousseau's, and immediately found Frankie waving her down.

"Hey," she said, "sorry I'm late."

"Nah, no worry," He replied easily, a smile on his face, "witch business, am I right?"

"What?" she immediately asked, shocked, and suspicious.

"Relax darlin'" He said mischievously, before knocking over a salt shaker, then casually lifting the particles into the air, "I'm one too."

* * *

Klaus walked through the City of the Dead, which, oddly, fit its name, for there was no sign of life, though Klaus could sense them, waiting in the shadow.

"What happened to decorum?" He bellowed, "Does no one greet their guests anymore."

Immediately, approximately four dozen werewolves came bounding out from the shadows, barring their fangs and growling.

"The once great race of Beasts," Klaus jeered, "The proud and mighty wolves, neutered and domesticated into common dogs. And by a 17 year old girl." Klaus actually chuckled.

He expected it to get a rise out of them, but instead, they simply parted as a single voice rang out clear through the air.

"Niklaus."

As the pack of wolves parted, it revealed a small boy, no more than 12 walking up.

The boy stared into Klaus' eyes, his emerald eyes meeting the hybrid's green-blue ones with no fear.

"You're late, it doesn't do to keep her waiting," with that the boy turned and began walking away.

Klaus, despite himself, followed quickly.

* * *

**so, here's chapter 4. Reviews would be welcome.**


	5. Chapter 5

Klaus sat in the small room, staring at the strange boy, who stared back, a blank look on his face.

The only source of light was candles, and they produced a haunting glow. Out of the corner of Klaus' eyes, he swore he could see the shadows form human shapes, but when his eyes darted to look at them, they were gone. Perhaps he was just being paranoid.

But then again, he was in the graveyard; perhaps the Ancestors were taking an interest in this meeting.

The light and shadow danced on the boy in strange ways, giving him an ethereal, haunting look, like he did not belong in this time. And the boy's eyes, they seemed to look past his flesh, and into his very mind and soul. Klaus had heard of witches born with unique gifts, perhaps this child had such an ability. The thought of this simple boy looking through his mind angered they hybrid, yet, it also unnerved him. There were things in his mind that he had no desire for anyone to see, let alone his enemies.

Suddenly doing everything in his power to avoid looking into the boy's eyes, he sat and waited in silence. And yet, without thinking, he'd suddenly find himself staring into those emerald eyes, almost glowing in the dim light.

Finally standing it no longer, Klaus broke the silence.

"I find it intriguing that your Harvest Girl sends a child as her envoy, does she believe that I won't rend you limb from limb just because you've not yet seen…what it is this century, twenty years?"

The boy said nothing.

"What? Did your elders not teach you how to speak?"

At this, the boy cocked his head to the side, before asking

"What use would speech be with one such as you? You only hear what you wish to."

"One such as me? And what, prey tell, do you know of me?"

The boy said nothing, though suddenly Klaus began to hear noises, at first indistinct, unknowable, but soon became clear; screams. The sounds of pain of countless doomed souls. No doubt representing the victims of Klaus.

"Cute trick, but the moans of humans do not intimidate me."

"As I said, you hear only what you wish to." The boy replied, still staring.

Klaus pondered that, had he misinterpreted who the screams were? Were they not his victims? Not humans? It annoyed Klaus that this simple boy seemed to be out manoeuvring him.

"What is your name?"

"That which defines me."

Klaus was surprised by the nature of the answer, it sounded like a riddle. Klaus knew the game of riddles well; he used to spend hours playing it with his siblings. Was this an invitation?

"You wish to play?" Klaus asked, a challenging small on his lips.

The boy said nothing, but Klaus could sense the assertion in his gaze.

"Who makes it, has no need of it. Who buys it, had no use for it. Who uses it can neither see nor feel it" The boy began

Klaus had to actually stifle a laugh. Maybe such as riddle would prove vexing for others, but Klaus happened to have a lot of experience with such things.

"A coffin." Klaus replied with a smile on his face.

The boy bowed his head slightly, never taking his gaze off of Klaus, though, thankfully, he no longer stared into Klaus' eyes.

"What is always coming, but never arrives?"

"Tomorrow" The boy answered without a single pause.

Klaus scowled, but nodded.

"What is broken without being held?"

A cold shudder went down Klaus' spine. He knew the answer of course, but something about the riddles. Something about this boy was starting to unnerve him.

"A promise," Klaus.

A small smile appeared on the boy's mouth, the first show of emotion the boy had ever shown, and it chilled Klaus to the bone. He was starting to suspect that this was no simple boy.

Before anything more could be said, footsteps pierced through the palpable silence.

"I apologize for my tardiness," a teenage girl with dark hair, black eyes, and wearing a simple dress said, walking in, "A leader's work is never done."

The girl walked over to the boy, and stroked his hair.

"How was your day?" She asked, looking into his eyes without fear.

"We were playing a game," The boy responded, his voice different than before, no longer dead, but filled with a stoic emotion that Klaus could not place.

"Well, then I'm afraid I have to interrupt your game. How about you go find your brothers and play with them, yeah?"

The boy nodded, giving the girl a hug before going out.

Klaus watched this exchange with unease, the girl was not acting like a friend, or a sibling, she was almost acting like…like.

A mother.

"Now then Niklaus," The girl said, sitting down in the chair that the boy-whose name, Klaus realized belatedly, he never did learn-was sitting in, "How about we get to business? I am Cassie Natale."

"Fair enough, though I must say, I find it interesting that you send out children as your spokespersons."

"He was nothing of the sort, he was simply curious to meet you. He's, heard many, many things of you."

"Is he your brother?" Klaus asked, afraid, though he'd never admit it, to know the answer.

The girl, Cassie, smiled, as if she could sense this, "No, but surely you did not come here to discuss familial relations."

Klaus grimaced, but nodded.

"I came here to ask about your intentions with the werewolves. The wolves and the witches have a long, bloody history with one another, almost as bad as the werewolves and the vampires. Surely you realize the danger of giving them control of their curse."

Cassie smiled, before grabbing and holding up a cup to him, "Tea? It's camomile."

Klaus shook his head. Camomile, something else he knew well, once. It was _her _favourite.

"Shame," Cassie said, drinking out of a second cup, "it has great restorative and calming properties, and you seem to be rather tense, Niklaus.

"To answer your question," Cassie said after taking a sip of tea, "The conflict between witch and Beast was not always so. Once our to peoples were at peace, but then came your kind. Vampires. A plague made flesh, born from madness itself. Your kind decimates everything in your path, never stopping to think, never caring about the damage, only how it benefits you, no matter how petty the need. Your kind drove the wedge between ours, and by aligning pack and coven; at long last balance is restored."

"Lofty goal for a teenage girl." Klaus said, the rumblings of a theory spinning his head, but it couldn't be true.

"A lofty goal is simply one that does not have a plan."

"Good to know, but allow me to tell you something about your plan. New Orleans is a dangerous place, the faces of allies one day, are the faces of enemies the next, and they are everywhere. In front of your face, behind your back. To your left, and your right. Above your head and below your feet. Everywhere you go, you must be ready."

"I am well aware of this Niklaus," Cassie smiled, serenely. It made Klaus want to stab her to death with her own ribs, "I have already begun planning for such eventualities."

"You use my name, as if we are close friends, family even. I find it insulting."

"The power of Esther flows through New Orleans, as a Harvest Girl, I have access to the power of all Ancestral lines, your mother's power, is mine."

"And yet, what do you know of my mother?" Klaus challenged, a horrifying revelation haunting in his every word, her every look. He would make her say it, one way or another, "Did you know that she was completely insane? Did you know that she made us vampires without our consent, and then condemned us for it!? Did you know that she called us a curse on this earth stretched out over a thousand year!? She made us vampires, stole our innocence, and then acted as if it was our fault!"

There was a strange look on Cassie's face, almost as if regret creeped in for a moment, and that was all Klaus needed to confirm his suspicions, yet a sick sense of purpose kept him here, in this wretched hovel inside a cemetery full of the spirits of dead witches, no doubt silently laughing at his situation.

"I was unaware…" Cassie said, and some foolish part of Klaus actually started to feel better, but then she continued, "That sadism was written into that spell. Nor was I aware that paranoia and a sense of entitlement to dagger and abuse one's own siblings was written into the spell."

Klaus snarled at her, yet she continued.

"It never occurred to you, did it? Not once in over a thousand year did it ever occur to you that perhaps what people despise about you is who you are, not what your are. You are who you made yourself Niklaus, you were given tools, you fashioned them into weapons, you turned them on the world, and upon your own family."

At this Klaus rose violently, his snarl turning into a roar as his eyes turned red, and glowed gold. A symbol of his dual nature, the nature his mother chose for him.

He knew he could not kill her, not here in the eyes of the Ancestral Pantheon, and he suspected it would not do him any good anyway.

He turned to leave, he may not have gotten direct confirmation, but he had all he needed.

"Niklaus," Cassie said, though his back was to her, he could hear her serene smile, and his boiled his blood, "as an apology for interrupting your game, I offer a riddle of my own; What is built before your born, and will extend after your dead. What beats along with your heart, and thinks along with your mind. What is born in a single meeting, and yet exists with you, always and forever?"

Klaus did not answer, instead he ran. He knew the answer, and knew the threat whispered throughout it. He did not stop until he was out of the cemetery.

'What is born in a single moment and yet exists with you, always and forever?'

Family, Klaus thought to himself, as the full revelation of what she had said to him overwhelmed him.

If Cassie was inhabited, if she was who he thought she was, then there was only one person that that boy could have been. No wonder he refused to give his name, no doubt she had wanted to the revelation to have full effect, and it did. She won this round, the rational part of his mind acknowledged as the emotional parts roared in hatred.

How dare she! How dare she bring him into this, how dare she use that precious boy as an instrument of war against him! He would find a way to kill her, and he would make it slow, torturous, pain so unyielding that the Devil himself would look away in horror.

Because even as the anger howled, so to did the fear make itself known in a more insidious way. Because that boy, that beloved, beautiful boy, might be the key to secrets being dredged up that he had no desire to let see the light of day.

And fear to, of something else. She had told the boy to go play with his brothers.


	6. Chapter 6

_What do you want, Finn?_ Kol telepathically asked his eldest brother.

_Mother believes Davina may have something of value; she wants it to be revealed_. Finn's voiced answered in his mind, _She has something planned, so just play along._

Kol subtly glanced around the restaurant, looking to see if the elder Mikaelson was present, but no, it wouldn't do for the righteous one to get his hands dirty

_Kol-_

_Okay, okay. I'll play along Finn,_ Kol shot back irritably

_I was going to say be careful._

_Like you actually care._

Kol severed the connection before Finn could respond.

"You okay?" Davina asked.

"Sorry," He said, "Just daydreaming, I guess."

"Am I that boring?" She asked nervously

_Not yet, but getting there._

"Nah, sorry, just got a lot on my mind."

"Really? Like what?"

"Family business, mostly. We don't exactly get along much, but now we're all in town, so, if you see explosions, don't be alarmed, just Sunday dinner."

Davina chuckled, "Yeah, I know a thing or two about family problems."

"Really?" Kol said, doing his best to fake interest, "Well, tell me about your childhood," He said dramatically, causing her to laugh.

"Well, parents got divorced before I was old enough to remember by dad. My mom was…demanding," Davina gave a slight shudder, and Kol wondered if that had to do with the Harvest, "I have an uncle living with the Tremé, but I haven't seen him since I was 12."

"I wish my parents had gotten divorced," Kol said quietly, with a level of sincerity that surprised even him, "If they'd done that, and each taken a select few kids, it would have saved us a lot of trouble."

"What happened?" Davina asked.

Kol glanced at her, deciding how to tell the story. He could always not answer, but that might seem strange, on the other hand, she'd been around his vampiric siblings long enough that she probably has some idea of their story. If his sounded too similar, then it would cause problems.

Before he could think of an answer, Davina's phone rang.

She glanced at the number before groaning,

"I'm sorry I have to take this," She said before getting up.

* * *

"I never said I had it," Davina's voice came over the phone.

"Yeah, but Elijah thinks you do," Marcel replied, glancing over at the Original in the driver's seat, "And he wants it."

"Why on earth would I want to help him? Furthermore, why are you helping him? Did you forget that the moonlight rings were his and Klaus' plan?"

"No," Marcel said, noting the look on Elijah's face, and choosing his words carefully, "But that stake can kill an Original, and it has a nasty side effect, one I'd rather not have to endure. And there are others out there who want that stake D," Marcel began speaking desperately, concern for his friend dripping into his voice, "The Guerreras when full out for it when they realized it was in play. Everyone who's ever wanted to so much as have leverage over the Originals will be looking for it, and they'll be willing to kill to get it."

"Then you have no need to worry," Davina responded after a moment, "I'm not going to die again."

"D please, what do you even hope to gain with it?" Marcel paused, "Where are you? I'd rather talk this out in person."

"I'm at Rousseau's, but don't bother coming, I'm leaving now."

With that she hung up.

"You certainly taught her well," Elijah noted, doing his best to remain calm.

Marcel just glared at him.

* * *

"We should go," Davina said to Frankie.

Frankie was standing around, looking at the rushing movement of people.

"What's going on?" Davina asked

"Private party," Frankie said, soundly oddly nonchalant, "Guess we should get going."

"Ah, come on," A blonde man said to the two of them, "Stay and party with us for a while.

Davina glared at the guy, though it died down somewhat when the guy's eyes began to glow, and his teeth extended into fangs.

Kol sneered at the guy, and was just decided how to kill the whelp of a wolf when he remembered Finn's words, 'play along.'

_Damn you,_ Kol thought to his brother, before lunging for the werewolf in an ungainly, mortal manner.

Naturally, the wolf through him aside, behind the bar, Kol stood up, his head was pounding. He muttered a spell to calm his head, as he stayed low enough to watch the show.

Davina had cast a hex on the werewolf that attacked him, putting him and several others of the now large number of dogs that had joined the group, on their knees.

Unfortunately for her, there were too many.

* * *

_Come on Davina, you're supposed to be a Harvest Girl, one of the four messiahs, this is the extent of your power?_

Davina thrust her hands out and sent a dozen or so of the wolves flying, but more just kept coming, eventually, one grabbed her and threw her across the room.

Davina did her best to raise herself up, glaring at them, and holding her arm. The wolves moved, growling at her.

_She's not strong enough,_ Kol realized, _not yet._

Kol found himself getting up to help her, which was a complete surprise to him, he hated helping people, brought him nothing but trouble.

However, before he could fully get up, the heads of six werewolves went flying over the room, someone had decapitated them in a single second.

The figure in question stood in front of Davina, shielding her from the werewolf pack. For a split second, Kol had though it was Elijah, but no.

"Papa," Kol mouthed, staring in shock.

It was impossible, utterly and completely, and yet there was no denying that it was he. Mikael. The Predator. The Hunter. The Destroyer. The Wolfbreaker. Returned from the dead, because, it seemed that not even death could keep him from his hunt.

Kol looked down to Davina. Why was Mikael, the ultimate warrior, coming to the aid of a simple teenage witch? He crawled over the side of the bar, and saw what Davina was holding. It was not her wrist, as he had thought, it was a bracelet. He knew that bracelet; he'd helped create it.

_Interesting_ Kol thought to himself, the wicked thoughts pulsing through his head, as a smirk formed on his lips.

"You wretched dogs," Mikael said quietly, before lunging.

* * *

The wolves roared as one and charge, clearly not knowing with whom they were facing.

Mikael charged the dogs, wretched, filthy animals that they were.

Just when one of them was about to get him, he changed direction, grabbing the lead mutt and using its body as a weapon on the others.

He threw the mutilated corpse to the ground, observing his work. Several dogs had fallen. The others stood their tense, yet unmoving. Their enemy had proven to be more powerful than they believed.

This time, they moved in two groups, attempting to take him on all sides, Mikael smirked.

"I have been slaughtering you dogs for centuries, I know all your tricks."

Mikael leaped upward as the wolves lunged again, grabbing the ceiling and bringing part of it down. Debris disoriented the closest wolves. He landed on one of them, breaking its neck and punching another in the skull with enough force to shatter it.

He moved quickly, staying in one place for less than a second before moving again, jumping, twisting, lunging. As the numbers of the pack decreased, the remaining members began acting more conservatively.

One of them lunged sideways, and Mikael moved to intercept, but suddenly felt his body betray him. He looked over to see other wolves moving for the girl, who seemed to have broken her ankle.

Internally cursing the wretched child, he lunged for the wolves moving towards her. Unfortunately, this gave the others the opportunity to gang up on him.

Pain shot through his entire being as the poison of the wolf bites seared through his body, yet he refused to yield to it. These animals that took his son, defiled his wife, they would never best him.

With an inhuman roar, he rose up, throwing all the beasts to the ground with enough force to shatter their spines.

He moved towards the wolf attacking the girl and ripped its heart out.

Suddenly, something felt different, he felt…free.

He looked at the girl's wrist, finding it free of the dark bracelet that enslaved him.

"Well, isn't this an interesting turn of events," And he lunged towards his newest prey.

Grabbing her up, he sank his fangs into her neck, only to be thrown backwards into the wall, cracking it.

* * *

Mikael stood up to find his son, Elijah, staring at him in shock.

"Father?" He asked, unable to properly describe what he was feeling.

"Hello Elijah, I was hoping to run into the bastard first, but you and I have unfinished business as well, coward."

He pulled the white oak from its makeshift sheath in his belt, and raced towards his son.

The battle was a violent one. As the two ancient vampires duelled, they felled the entire restaurant.

Mikael tossed Elijah up into the air, breaking through the ceiling before falling back down.

Elijah tried his best; he struck his father with the full force he could muster; yet it did not seem to have any real effect. Mikael returned suite with a blow that threw Elijah into the ground, dazing him.

Mikael pinned him against the wall and, raising the white oak, moved to shove it into Elijah's chest.

Elijah grabbed his father's hand with his own, doing everything in his power to stop the stake from ending him, as it had his brothers. Yet, for all his might, he couldn't.

"Father," Elijah gasped, "Please."

Some small part of noted the pathetic nature of those words. He was Elijah, the Silver Tongue, an Original Vampire, and yet here he was, begging for his life.

"You had your chance," Mikael replied quietly, "I gave you your chance, and you sided with him, after all he'd done to us."

Mikael suddenly stopped, turning in rage to see Davina along with Marcel, putting the bracelet back on.

He raced to kill her before she could enslave him again, yet found himself but a moment to late.

"Stop," Davina commanded, and he felt his body seize. He stared at her with deepest loathing, in that moment; he hated her more than anything, even Klaus.

"Go back now." He sneered at her, before leaving.

Davina stood there, gasping. Kol walked towards her, and steadied her as she nearly fell.

"That's not exactly the kind of party I had in mind." Kol, still pretending to be Frankie, noted. He had to be careful now, with Elijah here, "Who was that guy."

Davina just shook her head, before looking at 'Frankie'.

"Oh my god, your head," She said looking at the wound on Kol's head.

Kol reached up and touched it, wincing.

"Huh, didn't notice that before, ah well, it'll heal."

"Davina," Marcel said, trying to get her attention.

But Davina, grabbing 'Frankie's' arm, just turned and left.

* * *

Esther watched silently as the blood of the last of the human's her sons had collected for her was drained into the basin. She regretted that so many had to die, yet was this not actually a service to her new home? She'd specifically told her children to gather criminals who'd escaped justice, banes of society.

"Are you ready?" A voice came from behind her.

She turned to see her oldest, and some ways, only friend.

"Yes," She removed her clothes, and began walking towards the pool. Climbing the stone steps, she entered the bath of blood, and submerged herself beneath.

The other woman in the stone chamber began chanting in a language that had not been heard in centuries. The chant spoke of new life, of growth, and of empowerment. The candles, giving the walls a sickly green color, began to glow brighter, rising in response to the power filling the room.

The pool of blood began to decrease in volume, shrinking, and yet, glowing a powerful shade of red, combining with the walls to give a yellow tinge to the room.

As the chant ended, Esther rose from the pool, her body no longer that of a teenager, but of a full-grown woman. She looked up towards the ceiling, as her body physically glowed with the power flowing through her.

Finn stood in the Lycée, anxiously waiting. It was a mistake to send the wolf pack after Davina with Kol there, he knew it, he knew it was wrong, and he knew how Kol would take it. And if things went wrong, they'd have to explain to Marco. But, mother commanded it, what was he supposed to do?

"Are you okay?" Henrik asked his eldest brother, looking at him with emerald eyes that seemed to glow in the pale light.

"I'm fine Rik, it's just, I don't think it was the best course of action to send the wolves."

"Mother often has her own way of seeing things," Henrik responded simply, before returning to reading a book Finn had bought him

Finn pondered that, before feeling a strange sensation, as if the whole world suddenly folded inside out.

Suddenly, he found himself not in the Lycée, but outside in the graveyard, faced with a very irate Kol.

"Play along?" Kol shouted at his eldest brother-to think he'd once loved him more than anything, -"dear Munnin," Kol threw his old nickname for his former favourite brother in his face, "Play along? While a back of wolves nearly rips me apart!"

Kol looked as if he was about to physically attack him, when a great force pulled him backwards, and put them both on their knees.

"Enough of this," A woman said, walking towards them. Neither Kol nor Finn had seen her before, yet they immediately knew her it was, they recognized her power, though it had grown.

"Mother," Finn said respectfully, Kol just glowered at her.

Esther walked over to her impish son, kneeling down to face him.

"I apologize for your injuries," She said, kissing his forehead. Immediately, Kol felt power swell through him, and a great itching sensation, as Esther's healing spell repaired all the damage.

She smiled at him, moving her hand through his hair, and cupping his face.

"Henrik tells me there was nothing in the church to be found, yet Finn tells me that the wolves are all dead, so, how did Davina kill a pack of vicious wolves."

Kol thought for a moment, he could tell her the truth. Watch her face swell in gratitude at the information given, have her hug him, as she had done in ages long past, or…

"Don't know," Kol said without blushing, pointing to where his wound was previously located, "was knocked out for the fight."

* * *

Klaus paced back and forth in the courtyard, waiting for Elijah to return.

_What's bloody taking him so bloody long!_ Klaus roared in his mind.

Elijah came walking through, looking as if he'd just gotten into a fight with a sleuth of bears.

"Where have you been? Never mind, I have something to tell you." He said, never stopping his pacing.

"It's worse than we thought, so much worse. I spoke with the witch that was making the moonlight rings. Elijah," He stopped pacing and faced his brother, his face thick with fear, "It's so much worse. The way she spoke, the way she acted, the fervour with which she condemned our kind. I swear to you, just as I exist, that girl is not just influenced by our mother, she is our mother."

Elijah walked, aimlessly for a moment, trying to grasp the full meaning of this.

"Niklaus."

"I'm not done yet,"

"Niklaus!" Elijah said, not hearing him

"What!? What could be so bloody important!?"

"Our father,"

Klaus blanched, staring at Elijah, trying to find words to say.

"I saw him, standing before me as I do before you know. I fought him, he, he holds the stake. Davina has him bound with some sort of dark object, it is the only reason I am not dead. But brother, if she chooses to unleash him, he will obliterate all of us."

"He only hunted me," Klaus said, refusing to accept the reality of this.

"I have sided with you time and time again for a thousand years brother, in his eyes, I'm just as guilty as you…you said something about more."

Klaus nodded, trying to figure out how to phrase this.

"When I went to the City of the Dead, I was greeting not by her, but by a boy. And when mother came, she greeting that boy as if he were her son."

It was Elijah's turn to refuse to accept, he shook his head forcefully, refused to hear what Klaus had said. She wouldn't summon him, he was free of this, he was…

"It can't be…" Elijah whispered, tears in his eyes.

"There's something else"

"What?" Elijah asked desperately, "What else could she possibly have done?"

"When she came, she told the bo-, she told him to go play with his brothers."

To Elijah's surprise, he didn't feel the great shock this time. This time, he accepted immediately. If she called forth their youngest brother, of course she'd call the others. No doubt they were already throughout the city, making plans, alliances.

"She placed herself and him in other bodies, she's probably done the same to Finn and Kol," Klaus went on, "Finn, Kol, Henrik, her dear witch pupils, cleansed of their vampirism as she always wanted. Finn will not be a problem, but Kol, he's learned from witches all over the world, you remember how he was in his day, combine that power, with the knowledge and…personality, cultivated over the centuries, and…"

Elijah only half heard what Klaus was saying, he mind racing to catch up.

_She was willing to use their youngest, the most precious of them all in her war against vampirism. Rebekah could not be informed, she'd come running back, consequences be damned. But where were they? What have they been doing the past 17 months. Assuring their power no doubt. Even if they were the source of the moonlight rings, the werewolves venerated Marco, getting even an ounce of loyalty from the wolves would take time…and Francesca's death _Elijah growled at the unwitting aid they'd given her, _and vampire or witch, a Mikaelson is a Mikaelson, and we're not all that well loved. So no doubt negotiating with the witches would take time. And then there's _

_Davina, the outlier, they'd want to…_

"Keep and eye on her," Elijah said, cursing himself for his stupidity.

"What?" Klaus asked, confused.

"When I faced Mikael, there were three others present. Two were Marcel and Davina, but the third was a young man who was content to just sit back and watch the fight. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but now, Davina's a harvest girl with loyalty to no coven. Our mother has likely been consolidating her powerbase among the covens, but she'd need someone to keep on eye on Davina. This young man showed no fear of the wolves, didn't even bother worrying about his head wound."

"Kol," Klaus said, realizing, of course Esther would send him to woo the up and coming witch, "I wonder if she knows what he usually does to women after he's done wooing them, " Klaus muttered under his breath.

The two brothers looked at each other for a time, the silent question of what now echoing in both their eyes.

Suddenly, the both smelled the scent of wolf.

"When I told her to connect with the wolves, I didn't mean for her to bring them here," Elijah said, sighing

"Pay it no mind, in fact, we could use the cannon fodder."

* * *

Marco, Jackson, and an underling named Aiden walked through the remains of the restaurant.

Jackson and Aiden observed the damage, while Marco sniffed the air, the scents painting him a bloody story.

"They hunted, they fought, something overpowered them. Then, Elijah came, this entity fought him too, nearly killed him, before fleeing."

Suddenly, Marco began to turn, his bones started growing, hair forming on his face, his teeth becoming fangs, his eyes glowing a fiery yellow as the behemoth within began to show itself.

Both Aiden and Jackson stepped back, anxious as their alpha struggled to get control of himself.

After a few moments, he calmed down enough, and was, appearance-wise at least, human again.

"Been awhile since you've lost control like that, what's up?" Jackson asked his friend.

"There's only one person in existence that could have done this, overpowered the whole pack, bested Elijah," Marco said in an eerily calm voice. Unlike most werewolves, who got loud and violent when enraged, Marco just seemed to go cold, it was disconcerting

Marco looked to his two subordinates, "We've been betrayed, someone has brought forth the Wolfbreaker."


	7. Chapter 7

**I'd like to preface this chapter by noting that I do not know all of the particulars of childbirth, so I apologize for any inaccuracies.**

* * *

January 3, 883

"Mother!" Finn yelled, running to his mother, who was, who was doubling over in pain, grasping her stomach.

The seven-year-old Elijah looked up from his dinner to see his elder brother running towards their mother, and went after.

"What is it mother?" Finn asked, holding her and checking her forehead for a fever.

"Your sibling" Esther responded, gasping, "Has decided…to…announce himself,"

Finn paled,

"But…Ayanna is still away, she needs to be here," Emotion coated his voice; mother had been having a difficult pregnancy, and her giving birth without Ayanna to act as midwife.

"There is…no…time!" Esther screamed as another contraction began.

Finn began nodding, desperately trying to figure out what to do. Niklaus poked his small head in to see what was going on, but Elijah shooed him back into his room.

"Elijah," Finn said, "Go to the garden, gather gladiolus, sunflower, and camomile, bring them here."

Elijah nodded and ran off, repeating the names of the flowers.

Finn led his mother to her, room, and laid her down in her bed.

Esther smiled at him, stroking his face, her face growing paler, and covered in cold sweat.

"You'll be okay," Finn whispered, holding her hand.

Esther nodded slightly before letting out another gasp of pain.

Elijah returned with the flowers, and Finn went and took them.

"Go to mother, keep her down, be ready for the child," Finn instructed his little brother.

Looking scared and confused, Elijah nonetheless nodded, moving towards his mother.

Finn took the flowers and placed them into a mortar before crushing them with a pestle, quickly chanting all the while.

Once the paste had been made, Finn quickly brought it over to his mother, whose dress was darkening, as something spread through the material

"She's, she's bleeding!" Elijah said frantically, looking back and forth between mother and brother desperately. Finn cursed under his breath.

He dapped his fingers in the past, and drew the word life in Nordic symbols on his mother's stomach. The symbol began to glow, using Finn's power to keep Esther alive, just as Esther's was being used to keep the unborn child from dying.

Finn moved, taking Elijah's place, and began drawing symbols in the paste on his mother's legs, symbols of healing, trying to stop her from bleeding out.

"I see a head," Elijah said frantically, looking over towards Finn in confusion, silently asking what he could do to help.

Suddenly, the door flew open and Ayanna, returned from tending to the sick in the outskirts, came running in, ordering Finn aside. Immediately, Finn moved out of the way, grateful for a master to take the duty.

Mikael ushered both boys outside, giving them cloths to wipe their faces, which were covered in sweat.

"What happened?" Mikael asked stoically, though Finn thought he could detect trace amounts of worry seeping through his father's armour.

"She went, into labour," Finn said, surprised to find himself panting, and shaking, Ayanna said Esther was not due for another three weeks, "She started screaming, then she was bleeding, and I…I didn't know what to do. I tried to make a paste out of healing herbs, stave off the damage, but."

Mikael simply nodded, "Your mother's a strong woman, she'll survive this."

Finn nodded desperately, needing to believe that. Elijah came over to him, and hugged him, and Finn hugged back, hoping for the best.

* * *

Day turned to night, and yet still Finn had heard nothing. The fact that Ayanna was still with Esther and the child was simultaneously worrying and comforting. The battle was not over, for both his mother and his newest sibling, and yet, the battle raged on, clearly a difficult one.

Elijah had stayed with him for a while, before little Niklaus had wondered out, wondering what was going on. Elijah had gone off with him. Mikael was still the leader of his people; he had duties to attend to. So, Finn sat alone, staring at the house which contained his mother, lying near dead, and his newest sibling, born prematurely, and may not even survive the month, even if Ayanna stabilized it.

It was a dark night, clouds covering the stars; the only light was the bonfire, which kept going by Finn's will alone. The others had all gone to bed, Elijah carrying the already sleeping Klaus, Mikael had tried to coax Finn into sleeping, pointing out that she wouldn't want him to stay up all night, but Finn just shook his head, and Mikael let him be.

Mikael always felt that Finn was much more Esther's child, than his.

So Finn stood by the fire, standing vigil, sometimes he imagined himself going in, offering Ayanna his aid, but he knew it would be refused. While she would have appreciated the ideals behind the offer, Finn sadly knew he was nowhere near strong enough, or versed enough in the healing arts, for this.

A piercing caw struck through the night, Finn looked up to see a raven flying around, circling the area. The light of the fire reflected off its sleek feather, giving it the appearance of a creature not of this world. The raven landed on one of the stones surrounding the fire, and looked at him, before turning to face the house, as if it meant to share in Finn's vigil.

An unknown time later, the raven cawed, and took flight again, just as Ayanna opened the door, and, seeing Finn standing there, sighed, before beckoning him inside.

Upon entering, he saw his mother, still not at full health, but far better than when Finn had last seen her. Finn tried to stop himself from tearing up at the sight of her alive, failed.

Upon seeing him, Esther asked; "Have you been standing out there all this time?"

Finn nodded, still trying to hold back the tears.

"I thought you were going to die, I…I just wanted to help, somehow."

Esther sighed, wincing as she did, but smiled nonetheless, "You'll catch a cold if you do that."

"Compared to what I just went through," Ayanna chimed in, "A cold would be a vacation."

"Thank-you," Finn said, turning to her, Ayanna nodded.

There was a small sound of movement, and Finn turned to see the infant boy, for even as a babe, he was undoubtedly male. The boy was small, innocent, and fragile. Sunflowers stood all over his crib, their roots twisting around the wooden bars.

Symbols of life, Finn remembered, to help keep the child alive.

Looking at the child, Finn couldn't help but smile.

"He's beautiful," Finn said quietly, "What's his name?"

"Haven't actually made a decision on that yet," Esther said tiredly, "I am torn between Erik, Bjorn, Brant, and Kol."

"…I like the name Kol," Finn said quietly, not looking from his infant brother.

Looking at Finn, Esther then turned to Ayanna, who gave a solemn nod.

"Very well then," Finn turned in surprise, "Kol it is then, now come, all of us could use some rest."

Ayanna said her goodbyes before departing, while Finn removed his boots, and climbed into bed beside his mother.

"I have not done this in years," Finn noted.

"We're both exhausted," Esther replied, already falling asleep, "I think your friends will forgive you this once."

And so, mother and two sons slept, and as they did, starlings sang quietly in the night, while a great number of ravens stood in the trees, watching, and waiting.

* * *

**Wow, this turned out longer than I intended it to be, it was supposed to be the preface for the modern day stuff. Well, I guess it still is, technically.**


	8. Chapter 8

Mikael stood in the forest, gripped in the wrath of the wolves' venom, his mind conjuring phantoms of long dead times. He felt the cold of the mountains as his father ordered him to climb them, reach the marker, or not bother returning.

"Enough" Mikael said, willing the hallucinations back, they were there still, but they no longer had power, the pain, he refused to yield to it, he had sworn that, so long ago.

* * *

Esther walked through the greenhouse of the Lycée, admiring the various herbs the coven had collected. She plucked a few chamomile flowers, tied a note to them, then called out. A few starlings came to her, and she handed them the flowers.

"Take them, and be swift,"

* * *

"So, what is your plan for the wolves?" Klaus asked Hayley, sitting down in the main chair of the common room.

"Get them back into the ranks of the wolves, spy on want Esther's up to," Hayley said.

Klaus smirked, "You think my mother's foolish enough to fall for any of that?"

"It's not Esther they have to fool, it's Marco," Hayley snapped back, becoming annoyed with Klaus' arrogant behaviour.

"And Marco knows them quite well, if there's to be a reunion, it will have to be a full one," Hayley looked at Klaus warily, "Meaning you'll have to join them."

"Me?" Hayley asked incredulously, "They hate me!"

"They also hate Oliver, or at the very least, Marco does, all of you need to make the effort for it to look convincing. One of you stays out, a ploy will be suspected."

"And how do you know how Marco will act?"

"I don't, but I do know my mother, and those two are, at the very least, allies."

"Okay fine," Hayley acquiesced, "Assume for a moment I can worm my way into the pack, they're still not going to just let us do whatever we want."

"No, it will take time, so you'd best take the wolves and get going."

"Going where?" Elijah asked, walking into the room.

"Playing spy on the wolves," Hayley responded bitingly.

"That's absurd," Elijah responded at once, "they will be found out and executed in a manner of days."

"Thanks for the bode of confidence," Hayley mumbled.

"I apologize Hayley, but you don't know our mother-"

"Then explain her!" Hayley bellowed out, "Ever since you two realized she was back, all you've been saying is 'I know my mother' an 'you don't know my mother', then explain her. Explain how a woman who had six children up and decides to kill them all, explain how she took hold of the entire coven. Just explain it!"

There was a pregnant pause in the air, as Elijah and Klaus glanced at each other. Hayley thought they were have a silent conversation, and was about to demand they speak out loud, when Elijah opened his mouth.

"Seven children, actually."

"What?" Hayley asked, confused.

"Mother had seven children. The oldest was a girl named Freya who died of a disease back in the old lands. We know little of her, most of it told to use by mother's friend, the witch Ayanna, or Finn, who was the only one of us alive to know her, neither of our parents mentioned her if they could help it."

"Oh my god," Hayley said quietly, the idea of losing a child…"But that's not the only time she lost a child, is it?" Hayley asked, remembering a story Elijah told her.

Both Elijah and Klaus had a look of pain on their faces.

"No, Henrik, our youngest brother," Elijah said, "Was killed by the werewolves. After that, I truly believe that both of out parents' hold on reality was fractured."

"She made us vampires without our consent, thinking it would prevent anymore pain, and keep our family together," Klaus said, without emotion, "But her belief could not change the fact that she defied the very laws of nature by making us immortal, we became abominations, her sin, her duty."

"So will she ever stop?" Hayley asked quietly, sensing she was in dangerous territory.

"Yes," Klaus said simply, "I killed her over a thousand years ago, and I will kill her again, and this time, she will stay dead."

As if in response to that statement, there was a tapping on the window. Going over to it, Elijah saw a starling carrying a small, white flower opening the window; he took the flower from the bird, and then watched as it flew off.

"What is it?" Klaus asked

"A note from our mother," Elijah responded, "It says _Palace Royale_, 6:30"

"She's taking you to dinner?" Hayley asked, "How…motherly."

"Yes, well," Elijah pondered for a moment, "Change of plans, Hayley, try to get yourselves into the wolves, but make sure you do it through your brother, if one of our brothers catches you, you're dead."

"And what, pray tell, are we doing?" Klaus demanded

Elijah turned to him, "Why, going to dinner, brother."

* * *

Marcel stood at the top of the stairs, watching the two vampires go at it. Gia, the 'rocker chick' as Josh called her, was swift, but Donnie, a 32 year old with light brown hair, green eyes, and a body built like a tank, was good at predicting her moves.

The two continued the match before Marcel finally decided to call time.

"We'll call that a tie," Marcel said, laughing.

To his left, there was groaning, as the other vampires who'd lost their respective bets forked over their cash.

"Fitz," An muscular, blonde vampire who'd been flirting with Josh, turned over, "Billie," a reedy looking vampire who'd been more focused on his book than the match looked up, "You're next."

Fitz flashed Josh a smile before jumping down to the ground below. Billie however, walked down the stairs at human speed, his gray eyes never leaving his intended opponent.

The two got into position, and Marcel signalled them to begin. Fitz rushed forward, but Billie, immediately dodged. Fitz turned towards the frail-looking vampire, smiling. This time, he jumped up, rushing at full speed. To his surprise, Billie didn't, move. Instead, he pulled out a knife from his pocket and, once Fitz got in range, slit his throat, and broke his neck.

"Cheat!" Donnie yelled, and several other vampires agreed, but Marcel just chuckled.

"No, that's what we call skilful, I never said you couldn't use weapons."

"And yet, you said we had to hand all weapons over before we started this," Gia spat, annoyed as she was handing over fifty dollars to Josh, who thanked her with a tip of the hat motion.

"But he never said that you couldn't steal them back," A voice came from below. All of them turned to see Klaus standing in the arena next to Billie, observing the young vampire, and seemingly appreciating what he saw, "There's a certain pragmatism to you that I like," He noted.

Billie remained silent, unsure of what to say. He'd been told of the hybrid's temper, and had no desire to meet his ire. However, Klaus seemed to sense this, and chuckled, patting the young vampire on the shoulder, before moving towards Marcel at vamp speed.

"I am sorry to interrupt this training game of yours, but we need to talk, privately."

Marcel looked at the ten or so vampires he'd gathered, then to Klaus, before nodded, "Take five everybody,"

"Do you remember the necklace I gave you for your eleventh birthday, the one that was said to enchanted, so I'd be able to find you wherever you went?"

Marcel just silently walked over to a small box and opened it, revealing the necklace, with a pendant of two starlings.

Marcel tossed it to Klaus, while saying, "Your mother gave you that, you said she meant it to protect you, so then it would protect me. What's going on Klaus?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know, just, be careful, Marcellus, these are not peaceful times."

* * *

"I have the necklace," Klaus said into his phone, walking around Algiers.

"Good," Elijah said from the other end, "Now, finding a witch may be difficult,"

"Actually, possibly found that too, Marcel's vampires had daylight rings, it would seem that there are witches removed enough from the going ons of the French Quarter that they'll still make deals with vampires."

"Very well, but be careful brother, they will demand something in return."

* * *

"Hey, Frankie, sorry for bolting earlier," Davina's voice said from over the phone.

"No problem," Kol said, doing his Frankie impression, "When Originals show up, best to get gone, they have a habit of breaking…everything, so I'm told. But hey, you wanna meet up later at some point?"

"I…I don't know if that's such a good idea," Davina's voice sounded nervous

_Come on you silly little girl, give in, it would make my job so much easier if I didn't have to find you the old fashioned way._

"Look, D, I know you're in some serious shi-stuff, right now, but I want to help you."

"Thanks Frankie, but, I don't want to get you hurt."

_You couldn't so much as give me a paper cut if I didn't want you to._

"I can take care of myself." Kol replied, annoyance dripping through

"I'm sure you can, but, this is huge…I gotta go."

Kol swore after he heard the sound of her hanging up, he'd have to do this hard way then.

* * *

"And who are you?" a voice came from behind Klaus.

He turned to see a young woman, pale, with dark hair twisting in curls, and wearing a long, black silk dress.

"I am Klaus," He said simply, "I was told that a witch named Lenore Shaw worked here, and was to acquire her services.

The young woman smiled, "Ms. Shaw is not available, I am afraid, but I may assist you, if it is within my power. I am Hecate L'Estrange."

The name toyed at Klaus' memory, yet he could not quite place it.

"This," He said, holding out the necklace, "Was forged by a particular witch, one whose movements I would like to know."

Hecate nodded and moved over towards desk, taking out a piece of paper and writing a few things down.

"I will need several other supplies in order to do as you ask. But once done, I will create tools that will allow you to follow Esther's movements no matter where you go."

"I said nothing of Esther," Klaus said, suddenly on guard

"You did not need to, the whole coven felt a shift among the Ancestors, and now you come to me, bearing a necklace with her sprit animal, demanding that I grant you the ability to follow a witch wherever they go. I am not a fool, Klaus Mikaelson."

"Return with these ingredients, and, say, a thousand dollars, you will have your locator."

Klaus glared at her for a moment, before turning to leave.

Once the hybrid was gone, Hecate simply waved her hand, removing the cloaking spell, revealing the corpse of dear Ms. Shaw.

"I do apologize for any inconvenience you death may have brought you, Cherie," Hecate said, kneeling down and stroke the corpse's forehead, "But some evils are necessary."

She stood up, walked over to the desk, and, pricking her finger, drew to symbols in blood, one of a laughing skull, the other of a raven.

She chanted her spell, and both symbols were set ablaze.

"The hybrid seeks to know the starling's movements." Was all she said.

The fire went out, and all evidence of it was gone.

* * *

Kol Mikaelson sat in an armchair in the living room of the house his family had…appropriated.

_They're trying to track down mother, heh, good luck with that._

An idea was forming in his head, a way to…have some fun, with his undead brothers.

* * *

Within the holdings of the oldest home in New Orleans-though no one other than the family new that, the house was so heavily cloaked, shielded and warded, that none knew of its existence-Old Hades L'Estrange stood in front of the ancient fireplace, glowing in a haunting blue light.

The Mikaelson family had finally returned in full, no doubt chaos would follow, chaos that his family could take full advantage of, he thought with a grim smile.

* * *

Marco sat quietly while Jackson steered the boat.

Jackson felt nervous, like the silence was a physical thing, clawing its way towards them. Marco's stillness didn't help, most werewolves got mobile when they were pissed, hitting, roaring, fighting, but not Marco Labonair. He got still, and real quiet, with the look in his eye that would make someone wonder if looks really could kill.

Eventually, the island 'the heart of the bayou' as the wolves called it, came into sight. Jackson had been alive for twenty-five years, and he still got creeped out by this place. Docking and tying up the ship, he and Marco walked up the path to an imposing mansion. To any outsider, it looked like a rundown house about to collapse in on itself, but he wolves knew better, they could smell the glamor in this air.

Passing by trees, each with dozens of names carved into them, the names of those that died on this island, an others, so long ago.

Passing by the threshold, they were greeted to a different sight. In any other scenario, the entry room would have looked beautiful, but here, Jackson didn't know if it was because of the glamor or not, but the light didn't seem to look right, colors were distorted, the house itself looked like it wasn't quite in focus, it didn't feel right.

"Marco Labonair, Jackson Kenner, a pleasure as always," Brigitte said from the top of the dual, circular, staircase.

"Is it?" Marco asked, speaking for the first time in hours, "Given what the covens have done?"

"I am afraid I do not know what you mean," She said, walking down the stairs.

"A group of wolves were slaughtered in the Quarter, not Crescents, but wolves nonetheless. The Wolfbreaker was responsible," Marco said in a cold, steel, voice.

Jackson hated it when Marco got like this, sure, as Alpha, Marco radiated authority, but he was usually approachable, but like this, he looked more like a monster then when he was turned into the behemoth.

Marco glanced towards Jackson, as if guessing his thoughts, and Jackson flinched, apology in his eyes. Marco simply turned back to Brigitte, who seemed not altogether surprised.

"We sensed many changes in the structure of the world these past few months, but, there be so much, the Other Side itself falling into rubble, if anyone manage to get out of that, it be a Mikaelson, and he be the most of all of them."

"Resurrecting the Wolfbreaker is an act of aggression against the werewolves, I demand that the witch in question be brought before the Alphas to face judgement, or any alliance between wolf and witch is null and void."

"Marco," Brigitte began.

"No, Brigitte, I overlooked what Celeste Dubois did to us because she was a lone madwoman, and will be willing to overlook this if it turns out to be the same, but if the witches of New Orleans side with the one who returned him who nearly wiped out our entire race, then they are as guilty as the one who returned him."

With that, Marco turned and left, and, after one last look to Brigitte, who looked as if she'd been stricken, he too, turned and left.

* * *

**So, chapter 8 is up, if you'd be so kind as to tell me what you think, that'd be great. :)**


	9. Chapter 9

Esther stood in her bedroom, admiring the dress she had chosen to wear to the dinner. Most of the family may want to kill each other, but it was no excuse not to dress properly.

Suddenly, she doubled over as the room disappeared. Images formed in her mind of a large old mansion, and an old woman with piercing blue eyes. When the world righted itself, Esther found herself kneeling in front of the mirror, Finn by her side.

"Mother, what happened?" Finn asked, panic in his voice.

"Nothing to worry about dear," Esther replied, catching her breath, before standing up, "It would seem that the Regent wishes to speak with me. I may be late for dinner, go without me, and do make sure Kol arrives relatively on time. I'll bring Henrik with me when I'm done."

"Yes mother," Finn replied as Esther turned and left.

* * *

Kol fell back into his bed lazily, content and sated, for the time being.

"Wow, that was...I supposed a thousand years experience really does pay off," his partner said, smiling, while tracing one finger over Kol's chest.

"That it does," Kol replied, smirking at Odin L'Estrange, Hecate's twin. Kol moved his hand and began tracing the tattoo of the laughing skull; his family's sigil.

"Though, does it not seem somewhat perverse, me sleeping with you, considering what you promised my father,"

Kol put a finger to Odin's mouth, silencing him. Leaning in close, Kol replied.

"I know my promise to him, as I know his promise to me. However, I don't recall anything in that promise that prohibits this." Kol leaned in and kissed him.

There was a knock on the door, and Finn came walking in, Kol immediately moved the covers up on his bedmate, hiding the L'Estrange family tattoo.

"You could at least wait until I say come in," Kol said irritably.

Finn, utterly unfazed at the sight of his little brother in bed with another man, simply said "Mother asked me to remind you of the family dinner tonight, and that no, you can't skip it. Madame LaRue has requested her presence, so she may be late." With that, he simply turned and left, closing the door behind him.

Groaning, Kol got out of bed. Walking over to the closet, looking for something to pick out. He felt strong arms wrap around him from behin, and leaned into them as Odin kissed his shoulder.

"You haven't had a proper sit down with all your siblings in a thousand years," Odin noted, "I'd have thought you'd be more happy."

"It's not a proper sit down," Kol responded, a curious lack of emotion in his voice, "Rebekah's not there, and even if she were, doesn't change the fact that Elijah's a pompous hypocrite, Finn's self-righteous, Nik's nothing more than a schoolyard bully under all that vampirism and lycanthropy, Henrik's spent a thousand years under the...care of the witches on the Other Side, and mother's deluded for thinking this is going to end without attempted murder."

"Sounds a lot more fun than my family's gatherings," Odin said, smiling.

Kol turned so that he was facing the other,and ran his hand up and down Odin's still naked form. Odin's hair was more wavy, as opposed to the curled hair of his sister, it was also a few shades darker. His were a shade of chocolate brown, and twinkled with the same mischievous glint as Kol's own. His rock hard muscles weren't exactly painful to look at either, Hades no doubt refusing anything less than perfection. It gave him a more wild look, which Kol supposed is what drew him more to the brother, rather than the sister.

Sighing, Kol removed himself from Odin's embrace.

"My dear brother should be in your sister's web soon. As for you, I want to know where Davina Claire is by the end of this farce of a dinner."

Odin simply nodded, before going to grab his clothes off the floor.

While redresseing, he asked, "Why are you so interested in the Harvest Girl? The Ancestors shunned her, she may have above average power, but she's of no real consequence."

"Oh, but she is," Kol responded, thinking of his father, "And there's something...more about her. She had a militia of noble intentions behind it, but ultimately, what she desires is power, I'm curious to see where it leads her."

"With a hex to your chest if she finds out your lying to her," Odin noting, buttoning up his black shirt.

Kol shrugged, in truth, he didn't enjoy lying to Davina, if only because he hated misrepresenting himself. True, he was a Mikaelson, and as such was prone to all the qualities of his family, but he disliked pretending he wasn't.

Odin walked up to Kol and kissed him one last time, before giving a mock salute. He turned and walked over to the bedroom door. Drawing his family's sigil in his own blood, the door suddenly turned a dark brown color. Opening it, on the other side was not the hallway, but another house entirely. Kol watched, impressed despite himself.

Once Odin was gone, Kol turned back to the closet. The last time he'd dressed up nice for a family gathering, it actually did turn out to be an attempt at murder. With that in mind, Kol threw on a grey t-shirt and a pair of jeans and was done with it.

* * *

Klaus walked back into the shop, to find Hecate waiting.

He walked over with two bags, one containing the cash, the other containing the ingredients.

"Before I permit you to commence, I would ask why you need Elijah's and my blood." Klaus stated sternly

"I would assume you do not desire to have anyone else utilize these, adding your blood to the spell will make it so that you and you alone will be able to."

Klaus handed over the smaller bag, the one with the ingredients. Hecate removed them. Taking the container of salt, she drew a circle on the counter, and the placed the necklace in the middle. She took out two crystals, opals, and placed them at opposite ends of the circle. Finally, she took out a raven feather, and a small knife.

She began to chant, and the salt caught fire. She used the raven feather to fan the flames, while using the knife to stab the necklace. The necklace let out a liquid as if it was bleeding, as the metal of the starlings melting. As Hecate continued to fan the flames, her chanting growing louder, there was a strange chill in the air. The liquid metal moved out in two paths, towards each of the opals. Shadows danced in the background. Once they touched the circle of fire, a jolt of electricity jumped from the salt to each of the opals, and for a single moment, it looked as if there was an eye at the center of each one. Then, the fired died, the air warmed, the shadows were still, and Hecate ceased chanting.

Breathing heavily for a moment, she pointed towards the opal facing Klaus. "That one is yours, test it, if you like."

Warily, Klaus took the crystal in his hands.

"Close your eyes and think of your mother," She instructed.

As Klaus did so, he could suddenly see his mother entering a large, old, home.

"Well done," Klaus said.

Hecate nodded, "I feel I must warn both you and your brother; opals are called eye stones, and when used, they replace your eyes, never use them with your eyes open, or your reality will be unbound."

Klaus nodded, dropped the bag of money, took the opals and left.

"And without so much as a thank-you," Odin's voice came from behind.

Hecate turned to see her brother standing behind her, smiling.

"Where have you been?" She asked stoically.

"In bed with Kol," Odin answered nonchalantly.

"Odin," Hecate said warningly, "You're not falling for-"

"What? No! Of course not, I am neither foolish enough, nor suicidal enough to actually fall in love with a Mikaelson, he and I are just having some fun...you're not jealous are you?"

"What? Of course not," Hecate said fiercely

"Really? Because I know you lusted for that body long before a consciousness re-entered it. Don't worry sister, you'll get your turn, father made sure of it."

Hecate glared at him, "Do you want something?"

"Already have it," Odin said holding up a few vials of herbs, "Kol wants to find Davina."

* * *

Esther walked up before Josephine LaRue, and bowed respectfully towards her.

"To what do I owe this pleasure, Madame Regent?" Esther asked politely.

Josephine smiled, though there was a bitterness towards it, "I am afraid that you have some explaining to do, Esther."

"To what regard?" Esther asked curiously, "I have been upfront about my intentions."

"Have you? A witch named Brigitte, of the old Bayou witches contacted me, and she tells me that Marco Labonair confronted her with allegations of conspiracy against the werewolves."

"Conspiracy, how so?"

"Conspiracy to undermine and exterminate the wolves, in the form of the one they call Wolfbreaker, but of course, you know him as Mikael."

A sudden cold breeze shot threw the house, blowing around the impassive face of Esther, and the stoic one of Josephine.

"Mikael," Esther repeated, "That's impossible, he's..."

"Dead?" Josephine finished, "Your entire family is dead Esther, you are dead, and yet here you stand before me, explaining that Mikael cannot have massacred a group of werewolves because he is dead."

"A group of...Davina," Esther realized, "I requested a group of werewolves to assault Davina Claire in order to lure out any weapon that she may have had," Esther explained to a questioning look from Josephine, "I never imagined that it would be him."

"You except us to believe that a seventeen year old girl successfully performed a resurrection spell?" Josephine asked.

"The Other Side was collapsing at the seems Madame Regent, and, if I'm right, she has one of my grimoires."

At this, Josephine nodded.

"You will have to go to the werewolves and explain this, there is a meeting of alphas in the Ninth Ward. They are threatening to sever all ties with us, and I will not permit the stability that so many have died for to fall apart because of a child."

"Of course," Esther said, turning and leaving.

* * *

"Ready?" Hayley asked Oliver, as they stood outside the compound that housed the alphas.

"You do realize that if we don't convince Marco to take us back, he'll probably execute us on the spot." Oliver said in response.

"So, all we have to do is convince a werewolf that can turn into an eight-foot tall behemoth and outfight Originals that we're genuinely sorry for what we did," Hayley noted, "It shouldn't be that difficult, since we are genuinely sorry."

"Yeah, but you see, that's not enough, we need to convince him, and he's judge, jury and executioner."

"I thought I smelled a couple of interlopers," A voice came from up above.

Both Hayley and Oliver looked up to see Xavier looking at them from a second floor balcony. Smiling at then, Xavier jumped down.

"You lot got some nerve showing up here, nice to see you again though." He said, pushing his platinum hair out of his eyes.

Hayley was about to respond when she noticed a second ring on his left ring finger.

"You and Marco tied the knot."

"Yeah," He said smiling, "It was during the full moon, was nice, wish you lot were there."

"Actually?" Oliver asked, a sentiment echoed by the others.

"Yeah, but of course, it's not me you have to convince, and I don't think I'll be able to sway his vote. Anyway, you'll have to wait a bit, they're in a meeting with some witch broad named Esther."

* * *

"So you mean to tell me that a child is responsible for the resurrection of the Wolfbreaker?" Marco asked incredulously. A view the other alphas seemed to share, based on their muttering.

"The Other Side was falling to pieces, she had access to many old spells, if you doubt the possibility, ask the witches with whom you have old alliances," Esther responded, "I returned to this Earth with one purpose; to right wrongs. I cannot return to life those my family has taken, but I can do my best to make up for it, which is why I craft moonlight rings for you. Why would I undo all of that by bringing forth he who would see you all dead? Did I have thoughts of returning my husband to this Earth? Yes, I admit it. But I never once intended to bring him forth as the Predator. I intended for him to become human, to live out his years in one last lifetime. But, when the time came for me to pull my family forth to begin anew, I could not sense him, rendering it all moot. I believed that he had finally be truly bested, and that the afterlife had at long last claimed him, a foolish belief, I admit, given my family's...leanings towards death.

" But, know that, though I am not at fault for his return, I will help you. That the Claire girl still lives is a sign that she somehow controls him, and there is little use in a weapon that is too far to be used, especially after the incident in Rousseau's, so she very likely keeps him near her. I will locate Davina, and inform you of her location."

"You know that this may very well mean her death," Said an elderly alpha of native descent.

"Indeed," Esther said simply, "The covens were content to leave Davina to her own when they believed that that is where she wished to be, but, as you say, bringing Mikael back to life is an act of aggression against you, and as your allies, it is in turn aggression against us."

After a few moments of silence, Marco nodded, and Esther nodded in turn, before turning and leaving.

* * *

Xavier walked in, and whispered in Marco's ear.

"Send them in," Marco said in a cold voice.

Hayley walked into the room with apprehension, unsure of what she would find. Once inside, she found an old, ornate room, with approximately two dozen chairs in a circular shape, each occupied by a werewolf, that Hayley guessed was an alpha. To each side of each alpha, was a werewolf.

Xavier lead the group into the center of the meeting, facing Marco, before going to take his place, standing to the left of Marco, with Jackson on his right. Marco pointed towards Oliver and Hayley, and beckoned them forward. Apparently, they would speak for all.

Hayley felt as if she were inside a tomb, despite her inability to feel cold, she had goosebumps, and whenever she looked towards Marco, she was met with eyes that chilled her soul. No one made a noise, and she felt the eyes of all the alphas on her.

"You have some nerve coming before me," Marco said, his voice as hard as stone.

"We, we wished to beg for you forgiveness," Oliver said, his voice quiet.

"And to request, no, to beg to rejoin the Crescent pack." Hayley added on, her voice trembling.

That sparked some noise. Immediately, the alphas began voicing their disapproval, some calling for death. Marco simply held up his hand to silence them, and when that didn't work, he bellowed, "SILENCE!"

Once again, the room returned to its tomb state.

"This group comes, asking to join the Crescent Pack. Last I checked, I was alpha of the Crescents, unless of course you all are challenging that claim." While Marco's voice was calm, the implicit threat was clear to all. A challenge for alpha ended with death.

"We did not mean to question your title of alpha," said the elderly native alpha, "We merely note that you banished the one called Oliver Dumas, and ordered a traitor's death for Hayley Marshall, surely given these events-"

"I understand your statements, and your reasoning, Old One, yet, this is my pack, I am the one who decides what happens here, now," Marco looked towards Oliver and Hayley, "I know the reasoning behind the supporters, however, I ask this; why did you commit your offenses, and why do you wish to return?"

Both Hayley and Oliver stood still for a few moments, trying to gather their thoughts, before Hayley stepped forward.

Kneeling, she began to speak.

"I lived the first thirteen years of my life with a human family. I didn't even know I was adopted until I triggered my curse. After my first transformation, the people who I thought were my parents threw me out of their lives and onto the streets. Since then, I have never stopped trying to find my real family, never with any luck. It wasn't until a man came to me and told me he could find my real family, if in exchange, I helped to break the sire bonds of the twelve remaining hybrids loyal to Klaus. I-I could lie and say I didn't know what he wanted, but the truth is I did. Everything I have done I have done to find my family, to find you." Hayley said desperately, looking at her brother, "You dictated that I was to suffer a traitor's death, and I did. I died, with the last sight I saw being people who wanted to kill my baby taking him from me. I-I have suffered your punishment, I am still your sister."

Marco simply gestured for Oliver to begin. Oliver too kneeled before he began to speak, eyes staring at the floor in shame.

"My whole life, I have lived in your shadow. The whole pack has, and, I-I just wanted to step out of it, I convinced myself that I could only be my own man if I did. But, when I stepped out of your shadow, the light, it blinded me, and I let Francesca Guerrera guide me, and blindness is no excuse for foolishness. I let her convince me that taking your place, that leading the wolves into a war was the right move, I-" Oliver's voice broke, tears forming in his eyes, "I'm sorry Marco, I see now that I was wrong. You don't cast the Crescents in your shadow, you raise them into the sun, and I was too stupid to see that. Whether you accept me back, or kill me. I do what I should have done before and place myself at your mercy, my life is yours."

The room was dead silent, all eyes now on Marco, on seeing what he would do. Acceptance, or rejection. Life, or death.

After a good fifteen minutes, Marco finally spoke.

"I accept you back into the pack, however," He spoke loudly over the sighs of relief that had begun to sound, "Nothing is forgotten, nor forgiven. You will be placed at the bottom of the hierarchy, you are omegas. Furthermore, you must swear to sever all ties with the Mikaelsons, I can smell them on you."

Oliver and the others immediately agreed to all conditions and swore, ecstatic simply to be home. Hayley however, was left conflicted. Severing any connections to the Mikaelsons would be severing her connection to Rebekah, to Gideon, she wouldn't know anything that was happening to her own child. However, if she agreed to Marco's conditions, she may be able to influence events so that negotiations could be re-opened, that's why she was here wasn't it? To move the werewolves away from the witches. Once that was done, she'd be able to see her son again, and anyway, she had a strong feeling that she wouldn't survive saying no.

"I swear," was all she said, a single tear falling down her face.

* * *

Klaus paced around the table at the restaurant, which was completely empty; apparently their mother had booked the entire place.

"Why aren't they here yet?" He asked savagely.

"Patience, brother," Elijah said, he was more still than Klaus, though admittedly just as nervous, "We were early, they still have time."

The doors to the restaurant opened, and both immortals looked towards it. Finally, it would begin.

* * *

**Wow, this was a long one. Anyway, next one's the family meeting, finally. **


	10. Chapter 10

Mikaelson Village 888

The sixteen year old Finn walked quietly through the forest, listening intently for any sound, or sign of movement. He'd been at this for hours, and, though he would never admit it, he was getting tired of this.

He heard a branch snap, and immediately ran after the source of the noise.

With a squeal, Kol ran out from his hiding place, laughing while Finn tried to catch his little brother. He saw Elijah and Niklaus running out to, doing their best to stay away from Finn, smiling and laughing.

Finn feinted, pretending to switch to Elijah, but when Kol slowed to watch his eldest brother chase his new target, Finn turned back and Kol, not expecting it, was quickly caught and brought into a bear hug, both falling to the ground and laughing.

"Got you," Finn said standing up.

Kol pouted for a moment, before smiling a mischievous smile, and then rushing at Finn, grabbing his knee and pulling Finn over.

Then, jumping on Finn's stomach, he proudly said "No, I got you," while Finn chuckled despite himself. It was against the rules of the game, but, Finn had yet to figure out how to say no to his baby brother.

Finn tried to get up, when both Elijah and Niklaus joined in their brother's effort, once again dragging Finn to the ground.

"I am feeling very persecuted against," Finn declared in-between bouts of laughter.

Finn could easily have gotten out, yet, looking at the smile on his brothers' faces, he found himself not wanting to.

There was fluttering in the air, a small flock of starlings flew by, singing a tune. Mother was calling her boys home.

Immediately, they stopped playing and got up, making their way back home. Kol held his arms out to Finn, silently pleading. Finn quickly grabbed his little Hugin, and heaved him up to his shoulders, where he sat, hands lightly grabbing Finn's hair, while he stared up at the trees.

* * *

A single man walked into the restaurant, a black man with regal features, wearing a simple black suit. He spotted Elijah and Klaus, and calmly walked up to them.

"Well, it has been some time, but nevertheless, hello dear brothers," the man said in a smooth voice.

Klaus tensed at the man's final word, and Elijah moved forward in response, moving between his younger brother and, if he was right, his older one.

"Hello Finn," Elijah said politely.

"Oh, right in one," Finn smiled, "Kol and I did have a bet as to whether it would take you a try or two to guess our identities. Of course, mother will be easiest to identify, and Niklaus has met our most precious one already."

Finn waited for a moment, seeing if his words would generate a response, but both Elijah and Klaus remained as stoic as possible.

"Well, this is a dinner, I suggest we all sit."

They all sat at the large table, Klaus at one end with Elijah to him immediate right, and Finn sitting at the immediate right of the other end. Waiters suddenly appeared, bringing around drinks and appetizers.

"Now," Finn said, "Mother apologizes, she has some business to attend to, so she will be a tad bit late, as for Kol, well, I assume he's being, to quote the term, fashionably late."

"Probably off acting like the whore he is," Klaus said conversationally, knowing it would get a rise out of Finn.

Finn's gaze turned steel, and Klaus felt as if a large object was attempting to break itself out of his head, which he grabbed, groaning.

"Enough," Elijah said, "I doubt this was the reason we were summoned here."

In a moment, the pain was gone, Klaus picked up a knife and threw it at Finn, only to find it decelerating rapidly, before floating in midair, right in front of Finn's forehead, before falling onto the table.

"You of course are correct, my dear little brother, we are here to reconnect. So, please, tell of what I missed. Regale me with tales of your contributions to society."

Elijah suddenly looked nervous, almost embarrassed, and Klaus' face flushed in anger. This is what he'd hated about Finn his whole life; Finn's ability to shame everyone around him with minimal effort.

"Oh, come on," Finn encouraged, "Surely at some point in over a thousand years you contributed something to history. Medicine? Philosophy? Mathematics? Art? Literacy?," Finn suddenly had a very disapproving look on his face, as if he was disappointed in his younger siblings, "Or, have the two of you done nothing but take from history, from humanity, stealing the discoveries, advances and very lives of society while keeping any additions solely for your own selfish benefit!

"By the gods," Finn looked incredulous, "It's true isn't it, over a thousand years and nothing. Not a damn thing. I'd heard, but, I still have trouble believing it," he started chuckling, "You did nothing."

"Are you done?" Elijah said loudly.

"NO!" Finn roared in return, "Dear _brother_, I am not done. For nine hundred years you led our siblings, and all that there is to show for it are stories of carnage and fear. Nine hundred years, you were the eldest, for nine hundred years, I lay with a dagger in my heart trapped in a box! You didn't just steal from humanity, you stole from me!" Finn looked towards Elijah pleadingly, "Your own brother! I expected this kind of behavior from Niklaus, but you, Elijah? Why would you do that to me? Rob me of my own life! Were you afraid of Niklaus? Are you still? Or," Finn suddenly began sneering, "Were you simply jealous? Did you covet the title and duties of the eldest, and so allowed Niklaus to dispose of me, allowing you to keep up the appearance of 'the noble brother?'"

Elijah remained silent for a moment, composing his answer. Slowly, he turned from Klaus to Finn, before speaking.

"You may exist, somewhat parasitically, I might add, in the body of another, yet your...tedious sentiments, remain forever the same. You see Finn, like father, you've always despised our supernatural existence. Now father, he consumed and slaughtered his own, but you, you became pretentious and dull. Your self loathing would have led you to father, you were a threat. And, even if your ridiculous views hadn't, you were in no fit state to lead this family, to do what was required in order to ensure our survival."

Finn stared at Elijah for a moment, before replying, very quietly.

"You think I wanted to end us? You thought you were fit to lead us? Well tell me brother, during my reign, how many villages were slaughtered? How many acts of unspeakable horror committed? I'll give you a hint, it's less than one. I kept our family together, I kept them at peace, contained. Not once did Mikael ever find us, not once was a city burned, or hundreds slaughtered. And that you would dare to say that I would side with the man I thought was responsible for murdering our mother, though," Finn turned his gaze to Klaus, "Of course, we all believed Klaus' lie, for he was too much a coward to admit his sin," He turned back to Elijah, "The man I thought murdered our mother, over my own siblings, over Kol!?"

At that, a strange look came over all the brothers' face, this was a sore subject, one way or another, for all of them.

"I was helping him, Elijah," Finn said, sounding as if he were about to weep, "I was teaching him how to control himself, and then you locked me in a box, and you let him spiral. You, you stood back and allowed him to turn into a monster, worse, you used it."

"Boo hoo," Klaus said suddenly, "Your incestuous little love story didn't work out, have you come simply to bore us to death, or perhaps to drown us in your tears," he sneered.

"Incestuous?" Finn asked, "For loving my brother? No, though I feel I must put forth that you of all people speaking of such things is the epitome of irony," Klaus and Elijah both tensed, "I mean, you grow jealous of every relationship Rebekah has outside of the one she shares with you, you showed more interest in her than any of the women who threw themselves at 'the lord Niklaus', not to mention," Finn smirked, "I read somewhere that stabbing is a substitute for penetration with, well, something else," He said pointedly at Klaus, who was physically shaking, "Is that why you love shoving those infernal daggers through her heart, and, well, Kol's as well? Because you knew they'd never let you penetrate them with the tool you truly desire to use?"

Klaus stood up at beyond human speed, roaring, Elijah immediately rose as well, quiet, but equally infuriated.

Before either of them could act, there was a force affecting them, as if gravity suddenly increased, pulling them back into the seat.

"Now now darlings," Kol's voice came from the doorway, where he was standing with a crooked smirk on his face, "This is not at all lady-like behavior."

* * *

Kol sat down in the chair to Finn's immediate left, leaving only three more chairs. The one opposite Klaus, the on two that chair's immediate right, and the one to Elijah's immediate left.

"So," Kol said, taking a bite out of the baked bread, "What have I missed."

"Oh," said Finn, "We were merely discussing the past, and were moving on towards the future, and what it has to offer."

"Allow me to make an offer," Klaus said, a strange desperation in his voice, "You say that vampirism is evil, that it made us monsters, yet you side with its creator. Surely, compared to such a vile creature, we are the lesser evil. Side with us, against she who ruined us."

"Oh yes, a most fair offer, darling brother, and I mean after all, look at all the things mother's done to us. The way she shoved silver daggers into out hearts, the way she controlled us, manhandled us, why compared to all that..." Kol didn't finish that sentence, his point very clear.

"Is there really no way for this to end without death?" Elijah asked sadly, looking at his brothers, more to Kol than Finn, but at them both nonetheless.

"Of course," a woman's voice came from the doorway, "Death is not what we offer, but life."

Klaus and Elijah looked over. Standing before them was not the girl that Klaus had met, but a full grown woman. However, they knew it was their mother. Whatever she had done to her vessel Cassie, it had imparted some of their mother's traits upon her. She wore an emerald dress, simple, yet elegant. At her side was Henrik, wearing a pale gray suit, a blank expression on his face. As she moved to site down at the seat opposite Klaus', with Henrik seating at her immediate left. She glanced disapprovingly towards Kol's choice of clothing, though said nothing. Then, she looked to the final seat in-between Henrik and Elijah, representing Rebekah. Waiting a moment, she looked towards her sons.

"Now, shall be begin?"

* * *

"It pains me that you and Elijah have come to see me with such disdain, can you not see that every action I have ever done has been in your best, true interest?"

"You actually believe that don't you?" Klaus asked while Elijah looked on, politely incredulous, "I knew you were a liar, but now I see that you're utterly delusional."

There was a slight chill in the air, and it, for a moment, look as if the shadow began to creep forward.

"If you can, forget the hatred you cling to, and remember all the times I have mended, and healed you. When Mikael's anger caused him to cross the line from discipline to abuse, it was I that stood in his way. Whenever you injured yourself, I healed you. Niklaus, did you not once call me a goddess of healing, protection, and mercy? Elijah, when Niklaus challenged Mikael to a warrior's duel, you asked me to defy the tradition of our people, and stop the fight before it ended in a death. What did I say to you?"

"You...you said you'd rather die yourself than see your children suffer."

"And I interceded," Esther said simply, "I stopped the fight, even when Mikael was within his rights to kill you, and what did you say?"

* * *

Mikaelson Village 899

"Mikael!" Esther screamed, running through the crowd, to find Niklaus badly injured on the ground, staring in fear at his father, who held the blade pointed towards his son.

"It is within my rights!" Mikael said, shaking in rage.

Esther looked at him, her face stoic. The light began to fade from the day, as dark clouds suddenly began to choke the sky.

"Not if you wish me to remain your wife. Not if you wish for my children to remain yours."

Mikael looked to Esther in shock.

"You would dare?"

In response the wind began to howl, and a shot of lightning, followed by a burst of thunder.

With a last grunt, Mikael tossed down his sword and left. As soon as he was gone, the impromptu storm dissipated.

Esther went to her sun, and, pulling herbs out of her satchel, began to tend to his wounds.

"Why did you do that?" Esther asked quietly, "You know how he gets in a fight."

"I-I though if I could best him, he'd finally stop seeing me as a child," Niklaus said quietly, clutching the necklace his mother

When he caught his mother glancing at it, Niklaus just looked at her.

"So said it would protect me," Niklaus said passionately, "And when I grabbed it, you came. Like a goddess of protection."

"Niklaus," Esther said quietly, "I am many things, but, not that. And you are not a child, nor does Mikael think of you as one. He has a very specific and rigid view of excellence, too rigid in my opinion. My son, do not waste your life away attempted to reach a view point that cannot be obtained. You are already perfect."

* * *

"The necklace," Klaus said quietly, rage silently building in him, "It wasn't spelled to protect me, it made me weak. YOU MADE ME WEAK!" Klaus rose up in a fury, "YOU MADE ME WEAK IN THE FACE OF A FATHER WHO VALUED ONLY STRENGTH! YOU WATCHED ME TRY TO LIVE UP TO HIS EXPECTATIONS, KNOWING THAT I WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO! AND FOR WHAT? For what, mother? So that your secret wouldn't be revealed? So that Mikael would never discover that you were a whore? So that-"

Niklaus' tirade was broken as the sound of thunder echoed through the halls. The ground began to shake.

"Mother," Kol said quietly, beseechingly, his amusement gone.

Still Esther remained silent, shadows surged forward, covering the entire room in darkness. The fire of the candles turned a sickening green and jutted out angry sparks. All the while Esther remained, outwardly, quiet and calm.

"You think I did what I did to protect me?" Esther asked quietly as the ground continued shaking, bottles and plates rattling off the table. Kol looked back and forth, Finn glanced at his mother concernedly, Klaus and Elijah looked on with horrified fixation, yet, little Henrik did not seem concerned. He ate from a baked potato, as if there wasn't a thunderstorm and earthquake happening around him.

"As always, you edit your own history, my son. I wished to protect my children, your siblings, from you." Klaus looked confused, then horrified as Esther held up her hand, revealing a small, wooden figurine, "You recognize this, you should. It's one of the only gifts Mikael ever gave you, and one night, when you were nearly seven years old, you found Rebekah playing with it, and the figurine you made for her. Some, make believe tale of heroes. And when you saw her, do you remember what happened," Elijah looked questioningly to Klaus, who was holding up his hands, as if to block Esther's questions, "You grabbed an axe, and prepared to plunge it into her skull. I caught you before you could, and when I looked upon your face, I saw your eyes golden in color. Until that moment, I was not even sure that you were not Mikael's child. But that night I knew, you inherited the wolf, and the rage that came with it. I had to act to protect my family, to protect you from doing something you would regret for the rest of your life. So I made the necklace, to quiet your rage."

"You lied to me!" Klaus roared, "All you had to do was tell me the truth of my parentage, let me seek out the wolves-"

There was a particularly fierce gust of wind, which blew the doors open.

"They would not have accepted you, your true father had a mate, I was married, you were the product of a broken vow, the pack would have demanded that your father present your heart to the pack as a show of remorse, and even that would not have been enough to guarantee being free of the traitor's death."

"There had to have been another way! Instead you chose to hide the truth from me, tried to exterminate the parts of me that would have damaged your reputation, oh goddess of mercy! Then you made us monsters without out consent, and when I didn't turn out to be the correct kind of monster, you sealed my birthright away! You rant, and you rave of the monster I am, but you, mother, are the author of my horrific tale!"

A burst of thunder struck the house so loudly that everyone held the ears in pain, save Henrik, who turned towards his mother, finally taking interest.

"You have no idea what it's like to carry another within you. To eat, to sleep, to live, for two. To have a new being grow within you, and then come forth, forever intimately a part of you." The shaking grew more violent, and it was everything the boys could do to keep still, Henrik stared at his mother, "And then, to watch, as this being, this piece of you, is suddenly reduced to a corpse," The fires of the candles rose angrily, "After living more for this being, this child, than for your own self, to watch as that child that you loved and cherished, is suddenly gone, and a broken, mutilated thing, left in its place. Why," The winds howled, the skies roared, and the earth shook, greater with every word, though Esther, seemingly, remained calm, "It's enough to drive a woman, mad.

But," and suddenly, it stopped. The shadows returned, the fires quieted, the shaking stopped, and the storm died, in a moment, "That's all past us," She held out her arms to her whole family, smiling, "A new age, a new era, a new chance. Just as I have saved Finn and Kol, and rescued Henrik, so to will I save you. You claim I made you a monster and stole your innocence, I offer to take that, and let you start anew."

"Start anew?" Elijah asked, "Surely you can't mean...to strip up from our bodies?"

"And place you in new ones yes, you will be free to do as you please. To begin new lives, free from the taint of the curse I thrust upon you."

"I'd sooner bathe in a volcano," Klaus responded bluntly.

Esther's demeanor changed, becoming frigid.

"The choice is yours, I will not take such a thing away again. But know this; vampirism must end. Your choice is whether to survive beyond it, or end with it."

There was a ringing sound as a plate moved through the air, too fast for human speed. It struck Esther's neck, swiftly beheading her. Klaus stood panting heavily.

There was a crumbling sound, as Esther's severed head began to crack, then slowly dissolve into dirt. Her body quickly followed. Soon, Finn's, Henrik's and Kol's did as well.

"They weren't actually here," Klaus said quietly, "they were never here."

Klaus felt a jolt of pain in his neck as Kol appeared behind him out of nowhere, a knife in stabbed into Klaus' jugular.

"Never say never brother," Kol said simply, before disappearing again, leaving the two brothers alone.

Klaus glanced around, before turning to Elijah. Was it Klaus' imagination, or was there a hint of suspicion in Elijah's eyes?

"We should prepare," Elijah said simply, "She will be making her next move soon."

Klaus nodded solemnly, Mikael on one front, Esther and their brothers on another.

This would be a fight unlike any other.

* * *

**So, here's the chapter. I borrowed a few things from the episode Every Mother's Son.**

**And as for the stabbing thing, that's science as stated by the show Criminal Minds, so, accuracy is about as far as television goes.**


	11. Chapter 11

Kol walked through the doors of the Lysée, finding his brothers and mother sitting at one of the tables, waiting for him.

"Apologies for the delay," Kol said, "I was plotting, quite diabolically in fact."

Finn and Esther smirked at that, though asked no questions, Kol had been promised freedom in exchange for his aid.

"So, what's going on?" Kol asked.

"I need you to find Davina," Esther said, "Find her, find out how she controls Mikael, and supplant that control. You will only have a limited time. I swore to Marco that I would locate Davina and deliver the information to him, so that he might deal with Mikael himself. However, Mikael is still part of our family, he deserves to receive the same offer."

Kol glanced between his mother and elder brother, looking rather incredulous. Mikael consent to being made weak…Niklaus would turn into a werecat before that happened.

"So, I find Davina, get Mikael out of there, so when you lead the wolves there, there's no Mikael. I don't think they'll appreciate the technicality."

"Nevertheless, go do it, inform me when you've reached her destination, and I will begin my locator spell."

Kol walked off into another room, and made a show of getting everything together, before pulling out his phone and sending Hecate and Odin a message.

_Did you find her yet?_

He immediately received gps coordinates. Smirking he turned back.

"Found her!" He announced loudly.

Finn looked shocked, even Henrik seemed surprised. Esther however, looked suspicious. Kol made a note of that, before leaving.

"Now then, you have work to do as well my sons."

Both Finn and Henrik nodded, before getting to work.

* * *

"We have yet to hear back from Hayley," Elijah said, looking out the window of the common room, "Should we be concerned?"

"She can handle herself well enough," Klaus replied, digging through several of the 'secret' compartments located around the room, "We have more important issues to deal with, ah, here it is."

From a small drawer located in a wall, he pulled out the blade forged by Papa Tunde.

Seeing Elijah's expression, Klaus responded; "I'm going after father. He has the white oak stake; I'll shove this through his heart and then kill him one last time. You will find out what mother's up to."

Elijah nodded, still looking out the window while Klaus left.

Taking one last glance before going, he saw, to his surprise, Hayley, standing in the crowd below. She caught his eye, and then turned, entering one of the shops below.

* * *

Klaus walked into Rousseau's with haste, looking for what he sought, and he found it, or rather, her, tending to the bar.

"Hello Camille," He said, sitting down and smiling.

"Klaus," She was stiff, "Haven't seen you in a while, why are you here?"

"Oh, I was just wondering if you'd heard from dear Davina recently." Klaus asked with mock innocence.

"Why would I tell you if I had or hadn't?" Cami asked, "I really need to get to work, so if you could save whatever issues you have until later, that'd be great."

Klaus grabbed Cami's arm.

"Cami, in what is I'm sure what was an extremely ill-conceived attempt on my life, Davina has managed to bring my father back. Now, for the moment he is bound to her will, but she will lose control of him, of that I assure you. And he will kill her, or, perhaps the werewolves will, they despise Mikael with every ounce of their being, and will likely show the witch responsible for presence on this earth no kindness or mercy. I am willing to give Davina a pardon, after all, she is a child, and all children make foolish decisions, but the others won't. They will want Davina's head on a spike, but all I want is Mikael."

Cami looked at him for a moment, before sighing, "I haven't heard from her in weeks Klaus, last I saw of her, she was walking into her old high school."

Klaus simply nodded, and left, waiting just outside the doors. About fifteen minutes later, the restaurant manager came out.

"She asked to take a break to make a call, I overheard most of it, Cami said something about being careful out there."

"Thank-you my dear," Klaus said looking directly into the manager's eyes, "Now, I want you to forget about helping me, you didn't eavesdrop on Cami, you didn't report to me, it's all been a perfectly normal day."

The manager nodded, before turning and going back in the restaurant.

Out there, Klaus knew that Davina's family had a cottage several counties from here, as it was hers now, she could control who entered and who didn't, it was far enough away so as to not be in the middle of the fight, but close enough to be aware of what's going on. Confident that that's where Davina had chosen to hide, Klaus began making his way there.

Inside the restaurant, Cami was suspicious. Klaus had given up extremely easily, which was…unlike him. The only reason he'd have stopped is if he somehow got the information he needed. Saying she needed a bathroom break, she immediately called Davina back again.

* * *

"I'm serious Davina, I think he's one his way," Cami's voice said worriedly

"I've got over twenty different cloaking spells around me, Mikael, and this place, there's no way Klaus could figure out where I am."

"Magically maybe, but that doesn't mean that there aren't more…mundane, methods. Seriously Davina, just get out of there."

"I'll be okay Cami, he's not going to win, not again. Thanks for the warning, but I'll be fine."

Davina hung up the phone and got back to work on the spell, with Mikael silently staring out the window, which he'd been doing ever since he'd heard that Niklaus was on his way. There was a knock on the door, which Mikael immediately looked towards.

Suddenly quite wary, Davina moved to open the door, to find Frankie on the other side.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Davina asked.

"Coming to warn you," Frankie responded, "Whatever mojo you and that guy are messing around with, you've managed to get everyone's hairs standing on edge. The vampires want you dead, the werewolves want you dead, the witches are willing to let them want you dead, seriously, D, you've gotten yourself into some crazy, messed up stuff."

Davina pondered this for a moment, before standing aside so Frankie could walk in. She refrained from actually inviting him in, in case Klaus had gotten to him, but he crossed the threshold with no difficulty.

Mikael watched the newcomer intently, curiosity in his ancient eyes.

Once Frankie was inside, and the door closed, Davina turned to him.

"How did you find me?"

"Tracking spell," Frankie answered easily.

"I've got over twenty cloaking spell around this place, now, how did you find me?"

"Like I said, tracking spell, did a spell to follow your scent like a dog."

Davina paled at that.

"Fine," Davina said, "Fine, go sit down or something, I've got to get stuff together, it would seem I'm leaving."

As Davina went to pack up her research, Mikael looked to the newcomer.

"Tedious little thing, isn't she, I don't suppose you'd be willing to release me from her control, would you, Kol?"

* * *

Marco sat on the couch of his penthouse suite. The Crescents had moved into a series of apartment complexes that had been acquired with Francesca's money.

"I know that look," Xavier said, coming to sit by his mate and lean in close, "What are you pondering?"

"I have a pondering look?" Marco asked, mildly assumed

"Yes," Xavier said, "It looks similar to your brooding face, but you don't look down as much." Xavier was smiling, teasing.

Marco smiled, appreciating the attempt to lighten the mood, which had, as of late, been rather sour.

"Esther is one of the Mikaelsons," Marco noted, "She may have promised to give us Davina's location, but there's no guarantee that she would allow us to get a hold of Mikael, in fact, I'm rather certain that she'd do everything she could to not allow it."

Xavier pulled away, "You're going to track them down yourself," He sounded worried

"I know Mikael's scent, I can find him anywhere." Marco was already rising.

"Be careful," Xavier said pleadingly, "There may be no other wolves like you, but there are no other vampires like him"

"I will be, as I always am," Marco leaned down and placed a kiss on Xavier's lips, "And as always, I will return to you."

* * *

Elijah walked into the building, to see Hayley there, looking concerned.

"Hayley, what's wrong?"

"I screwed up Elijah," Hayley said, fear dripping through her voice, "I really screwed up, and I think they're going to kill me."

Elijah walked up to her, to ask her what was wrong, but as he got closer, he realized something was off.

With a single swing of his arm, he removed Hayley's head from her shoulders. The head flew through the air, shattering like glass as it hit the wall. The body similarly shattering as it fell to the floor.

"Oh dear," Finn said, coming out of the shadows, "I spent so much time making that as well, the detail on the eyes alone. Before we begin brother, what gave it away?"

"Well, brother, for starters, no scent. Secondly, her heartbeat, sounded more like a recording of one than the actual thing."

"Ah, yes, yes, I will have to remember that for next time."

"There isn't going to be a next time Finn," Elijah replied, his eyes turning red, and his teeth turning to fangs.

"Oh yes there will be, Elijah," Finn's hands ignited, with fire gathering in his palms, "There is going to be a lifetime up next times, for me, for you on the other hand, that depends entirely on there being a scrap of your original self left in you."

Finn thrust both his hands forward, and fireballs shot out from them, right towards Elijah.

* * *

"Wha-what?" Kol asked, forgetting to put on the accent.

"Would you be so kind as to release me?" Mikael asked, walking forward.

"Not that, how did you know who I am?"

"Now Kol," Mikael said, as if his son had said something foolish, Mikael put his hand on the back of Kol's head, and placed their foreheads together, "What kind of a man would I be if I didn't recognize my own son?"

Kol was silent, of all the scenarios he'd played out in his head, there hadn't been a single one where Mikael just recognized him.

"Davina intends to sever the link between the bastard and his bloodline, but she is not ready, and he is on his way," Mikael said, "As long as she wears that thrice damned bracelet, I will not be able to face him. Release me, that I might avenge the suffering of our family."

Mikael suddenly released him, and was back by the window as Davina walked back. She looked set to leave, when suddenly both she and Mikael tensed.

"He's coming," Davina whispered, "He's almost here, help me."

Davina and Kol sat face to face, their arms entwined as they began chanting the additional cloaking spell, Davina focusing on removing their ability to be scene, Kol on removing their scent, and other trace of them.

Mikael punched into a cabinet, and removed his hand, now wielding the white oak stake, and stood watch by the window.

* * *

Esther walked up to the home of Marco Labonair, knocking on the door, it was answered by a blonde werewolf, who smiled politely, "How can I help you?"

"I wish to speak to your alpha, I have located Davina Claire."

"Marco is occupied at the moment, but I'd be happy to get him the message.

* * *

Klaus walked around the clearing, there was no sign of any of them, and yet, he had been sure that this was the location Davina would have picked.

* * *

Cami drove her vehicle and what was probably beyond the speed limit, hoping that she could get there in time.

* * *

Klaus walked back and forth, trying to get any vestige of their presence, a sight, a smell, anything.

* * *

"Come on, boy," Mikael sneered, watching the bastard pace around, trying to find them, "Come find me, I dare you."

* * *

Klaus stopped pacing, and just stared at the house, trying to find anything.

* * *

Davina held onto Frankie harder as she drew on more of his admittedly massive reservoirs of power. However, as she did so, she suddenly saw an image in her mind.

An ancient forest with thousand of ravens in the sky, there were people standing next to each tree, with just blank whiteness where their eyes should be, the rain was not right, it was warm, thick…red. And memories howled into existence.

Davina gasped and stared at Frankie, fear in her eyes. For a moment she stopped chanting. For a moment the spell broke.

In that moment, Klaus hurled the branch of a tree through the house, with enough force to break down half of the front wall, and send Davina and 'Frankie' tumbling to the floor.

"Well so much for that plan," Frankie said, his Cajun accent gone, replaced by a far smoother one.

He held out his hand and Davina's research flew towards him. He grabbed Davina's wrist, the one with the bracelet, muttered under his breath, and Davina watched in horror as the bracelet turned to dust.

"What did you just do?" She asked in shock and fear

"Probably saved your life," He responded before looking to Mikael, "End him father,"

"Father!?" Davina screamed, no, it, it couldn't, he couldn't be another one of them.

"We'll have plenty of time to discuss this later," He grabbed her, again muttering in a language Davina couldn't possibly understand, and suddenly she felt as if gravity itself was shifting and warping, and suddenly, nothing.

* * *

Klaus watched as Kol grabbed Davina and disappeared. Klaus grimaced, translocation, if Kol knew that, besting him would be difficult.

However, there were far more pressing matters to attend to, as Mikael walked out of what was left of the house, the white oak stake in hand.

"And now it comes," Mikael said, "Fitting that you end tonight, by the light of the crescent moon you were born, and now, by its light, you shall end."

"You always did have a way with words father," Klaus responded, "But you've yet to truly back it up, and you don't look so well. The bites of the werewolves aren't for the feint of heart"

Mikael responded by lunging at Klaus with more speed than Klaus would have thought possible. Mikael slammed into him, and drove him through three trees, which came crashing down behind him.

Mikael pushed Klaus to the ground, raised the white oak and-

He was in the forest, staring as the fires consumed his youngest son, he was in Cadiz, so close to finally ending his hunt, he was in his homeland, staring stoically as his father gave another sermon of strength.

Falling to his side, Mikael groaned, while Klaus got up and laughed.

The laugh was cut short when Mikael roared, his eyes suddenly clearing, the dementia forced back through sheer will.

Mikael swept his foot forward, knocking Klaus off balanced, though Klaus slammed his hand into the ground, and flipped back onto his feet.

It was all the time Mikael needed to grab onto Klaus, sinking his teeth into Klaus' arm.

Klaus pulled away fervently, and Mikael released him. Klaus looked in horror as the remains of the werewolf bites suddenly disappeared.

Mikael opened his eyes, blood red in color now, and smiled.

"Now then, shall we try this again?"

In response, a titanic roar shook the night. Both Originals look to its source to a gigantic form walking towards them.

Standing at eight feet tall, neither man nor wolf, but a combination of, the Behemoth growled at both of them. Its black fur making it appear to be part of the night itself, and only its sickening golden eyes, and the glint of its claws gave away its location.

Marco walked forward, and the three found themselves standing in a triangle. Marco looked back and forth, as if deciding which one to begin with.

Klaus did his best to keep his emotions in check, he'd heard of how this creature had bested Elijah, he was in no mood for demonstration.

Mikael raised his arms challengingly, "Come then, The Predator, the Hybrid, and the King of Beasts, which is the alpha of alphas?"


	12. Chapter 12

867 Norway

The cold of the winter was absolute, and yet Mikael would not yield. His father had ordered him to climb the mountain to the camp above, the same thing he had done, his father had done, his father's father had done, going back for generations. Do this, and Mikael would prove his strength.

Mikael grabbed onto the rock, praying to all the gods that it was sturdy, a fall at the height would surely kill him, and he doubted that the Valkyrie considered children who couldn't even keep their footing fit for Valhalla. He heaved himself up, when a particularly fierce gust of wind blew by, bringing a flurry of snow with it, blinding Mikael. He closed his eyes, and continued his ascent. His hands were going numb, yet, he was almost there, he could feel it, soon, soon he would reach his goal. He was not weak, he would show them all.

He was strong.

* * *

With a gnashing howl, Marco burst forward towards Mikael, claws outstretched, ready to rip the Original apart. Mikael jumped back, and upwards, climbing up the tree, and then moving towards another, trying to get some distance between him and the Behemoth.

Klaus took advantage of that, predicting his father's next move, and smashed the tree down, returning Mikael to the Earth. As Mikael fell, he jumped out, lunging for the bastard he so desired dead, however Marco intervened, grabbing Mikael and hurling him back into the remains of Davina Claire's cabin. As Mikael landed, the force broke what remained

The hybrid and the Behemoth looked towards each other, a silent understanding to deal with a common enemy passing between them.

Klaus moved forward, sniffing for the scent of the ancient predator. He cautiously entered the house's remains, while Marco started sniffing the air for signs of his foe.

He kicked aside debris, and quietly swore at the discovery; a trap door. A passage underneath the house, likely protected by magic.

As if in response to this thought, Mikael suddenly burst forth from the ground, stake in hand. Acting on pure instinct, Klaus whipped around, drawing Tunde's blade, and stabbing blindly, hoping to hit somewhere. Unfortunately, Mikael parried the blow the with stake, and grabbed Klaus' wrist, breaking it and taking the blade. Before he could make another move however, Marco grabbed Mikael from behind, sinking his claws into Mikael's left shoulder and back. Dragging him back, the Behemoth sank his fangs into Mikael's shoulder.

Mikael roared out in pain, the small amount of Klaus' blood in his system did nothing to stem the fire of this werewolf's bite, and it was a thousand times more painful than all of the others before.

Mikael's mind shattered, memories, thoughts, emotions, visions, all swirled forwards in his mind, he was in a thousand places, a thousand times, all at once. It was agony like never before. Yet one thing was constant; he was Mikael Bjornson, he was not weak, he could not be weak.

Roaring in defiance, he stabbed forward with the blade he took from his son, and heard a howl of pain as the claws in his body were removed.

Mikael focused on the sound of his prey, used it to focus himself into the present. The Behemoth was staggering, wimping, returning to his mortal form. As he did, there was a crunching sound, and the blade fell out, apparently dislodged by the transformation itself.

The Behemoth was gone, and a naked man lay convulsed on the ground. Mikael raised his hand to strike.

Klaus grabbed Mikael, flipping him over, taking advantage of his severely weakened state. Wrestling the white oak out of Mikael's hands, Klaus plunged it down, only for Mikael to grab it and halt its descent.

Applying all the pressure he could, the stake still would not budge, the ground itself began to give way, as neither of the ancient vampires would yield.

"I killed you once already father," Klaus said jeeringly, "Why don't you just accept that your hunt is over?"

"You. Are. Weak. Boy!" Mikael roared, "You his behind a threshold, stole the work of others. In a real fight. You! Are! NOTHING!" Mikael roared, ignoring the pain searing through him. His rage anchored him to the present, his rage at the bastard that had stolen everything from him.

Inch by inch, the stake began to move upwards, Klaus' confidence replaced with fear. Inch by inch, Mikael rose. With a great shove, Mikael forced Klaus back and onto the ground. And thrust the stake down.

With a rustling movement, Marco, having partially recovered, came up behind Mikael, who was too incapacitated by the bite to react in time, and stabbed the bone blade into Mikael's chest.

Mikael howled as a new fire roared within him, joining with that of the bite, to create new levels of agony.

Marco limped next to Klaus, both looking at Mikael. Klaus moved for the stake, but Mikael would not allow it, as he fell to the ground, he punched the earth with more force than any human was capable of. A great cloud of dust flew into the air, temporarily stalling both of the others.

Inch by inch, Mikael moved his hand forward, every second requiring more will than he had every thought possible, yet he would not, indeed, could not, yield. He plunged his hand into his own chest, into his own heart. He grabbed the blade, and ripped it out of his chest.

The fire within him lessened, yet it was still present. He was in no fit state to fight, though he despised admitting it, so, he retreated, taking both weapons with him.

As the dust settled, both Klaus and Marco saw that there was no one there.

"How is that bloody possible!?" Klaus screamed out, incensed

"There are no other vampires like him," Marco noted, echoing Xavier, "Nevertheless," Marco limped over towards the site, pointing towards a strange black liquid, "He is not immune to injury, the results of my bite are far deadlier than those of my generic brethren. He is weak, growing weaker still. How he even holds onto reality is beyond me, yet bit by bit, his control will fall, as will his strength."

Marco suddenly convulsed, his hands moving to an ugly black scar from where the blade had penetrated him.

"You don't seem to be in much of a state to fight," Klaus noted.

"As much as it pains me to admit it, you are correct, I will heal in time, but time is not on my side. Eventually, the bite will claim his life, and once his nature revives him, the bite will be cleansed and he will return to full power. So, you must finish this," Marco took a break, breathing heavily.

"I will," Klaus said, "I will avenge our people."

"We do not share any people hybrid, and do not show such bravado, there is a reason he is called the Predator."

Klaus opened his mouth to argue, he may be a hybrid now, but he was born a werewolf, yet he sensed it would fall on deaf ears, at least for now. So he turned to follow the scent of his father, and would finally end this fight.

* * *

Davina woke inside what looked to be a trailer home. Looking around, she found Frankie leaning against the wall, yet, it wasn't Frankie. There was no Frankie.

Enraged by the thought, Davina immediately lashed out, sending as much power as she could muster against this imposter, yet another Mikaelson using her for their own selfish gain.

Not Frankie responded by snapping his fingers, and the world dissolved with the sound of flapping wings as everything dematerialized into an army of ravens, all flying around, surrounding her.

Davina screamed as she woke, to find herself in an ornate looking bed. She saw not Frankie and felt her rage building again, and prepared to strike again.

"You know Albert Einstein defined insanity as performing the same act over and over again and expecting different results?" He asked casually, "You can try to attack me all you want, you won't so much as scratch me unless I permit it. Which, I totally would, in different circumstances, but I get the feeling you're to vanilla for that."

"Who are you?" Davina asked, tears forming in her eyes, the first person in over a year that she'd allowed herself to start trusting, and turned out to be another liar.

"Ah yes," He said, actually looking somewhat embarrassed, "Apologies for the deception, but you see, it does not pay to disobey mother. I know you're probably not going to believe me, but the truth is, I did not want to lie to you. So, not that that's all out in the air, allow me to truly introduce myself; Kol Mikaelson." He said with a theatrical bow.

"If you didn't want to lie, why did you?"

"Didn't I just say?" Kol asked, "I thought I did, sometimes I forget to actually say things out loud. Well, anyway, mother dearest told me to. And good boys and girls always listen to their mothers." He said dramatically.

"You're a good boy?"

"Heck no," Kol said, sounding like he was actually trying to keep himself from laughing, "I'm a hell raiser with a sadistic streak that could cover the state. Why do you think I'm telling you who I actually am? I like breaking rules…but I'm not stupid. My mother's one of the twelve Sovereigns, pissing her off is potentially a death sentence. At least this way I can say I had to."

"The Sovereigns? They're real? But they're…"

"The most powerful witches in history, yes. She's one of them. Her titles include; The Original Witch, the Mother of Immortality, the Kindly one, and the she-devil bitch, but between you and me, I think Nik's the only one to call her the last."

"What does she want with me?" Davina asked, scared despite her attempts at sounding brave.

"She wants you to stay out of her way. She has plans for my dearest siblings, and they don't involve you severing bloodlines and sic'ing Mikael on them. Not that they don't have it coming."

"Wow, you seem to like your family."

"My relationship with my siblings is…complicated. But you should know that, however you may think they've wronged you, they've down a thousand times worse to me. Klaus and his rampant abuse, Elijah, who just stands there and lets him, all the while shaming us anytime we trying to stand up to the abusive ass."

"You want them to pay…"

Kol smiled, it wasn't the smile that Frankie had used, this one seemed more…predatory. It was a shame, Davina liked that smile, yet it would seem even that was part of the act.

"Yes, I want them to pay, and I have several plans in motion with that regard."

"Then what do you want me for?"

"Want? Oh Davina, you misunderstand who and what I am." He walked up to the bed and sat on it beside Davina, looking her in the eyes, "There is nothing you can give me that I can't already have on my own. You have power yes, but so do I, and I have centuries of knowledge of branches of witchcraft you haven't even imagined. So no, there is nothing I want from you par say," He got up and walked over towards a full body mirror, which immediately cracked into thousands of pieces, before reforming, with a different imagine, "I am simply curious about which road you will take.

"Will you choose to send me away, and continue to work on your own?" Davina saw herself, alone, in what looked like a tomb, desperately chanting away at her bloodline line spell, casting scared glances at an hourglass, which was running out too quickly.

"Or," The mirror shattered and reformed again, "Will you choose to ask for my aid?" Davina saw her and Kol working together, performing a spell while holding a beautiful diamond in one hand, and what looked like a dagger in the other.

"Or," Shatter, reform, "Will you turn towards your old friends, and warn them," Davina saw Josh running away, while Marcel screamed in a storm.

"Or," shatter, reform, while Kol gave a dark chuckle, "Will you seek to met out your hatred for my family on me, and try to do me ill," Davina saw an image, and began shaking at it. It was her corpse, left alone, rotting deep in the bayou where no one would find it.

The mirror shattered and reformed one last time, returning to its original reflection. She looked to Kol, terrified out of her mind, trying to figure out a way to escape.

"I do not wish you ill Davina," Kol said casually, sitting cross-legged at the end of the bed, it was strange, he looked so innocent, and yet, "I merely showed you what you happen if you tried to kill me, or send others against me. Am I not allowed to defend myself?" Kol smiled, and it was the Frankie smiled, the no problems in the world smile, "I am curious about you, you intrigue me, so I want to see where your actions will take you. Send me away, I'll have to hear about it third hand, keep me, allow me to aid you against a common enemy, and the Originals shall fall before us. Try to harm me, and I'll kill you without blinking."

"Why Earth would I want your help?" Davina asked, shaking, grabbing onto the covers childishly, as if they would actually help.

"Because Davina, I'm being completely honest with you. When was the last time someone did that? I will keep nothing from you, I will never lie to you. Isn't one of the things you hate about my siblings the fact that they lie and manipulate? I lay it all bare, and, also unlike everyone else, I leave the choice entirely in your hands. Tell me to stay, I will stay, order me away, I will. The only caveat I put in is that if you send me away, you can't recall me at any time. No one likes a tease."

Davina thought about it for several minutes, minutes Kol was apparently content to remain in silence, the Frankie smile never leaving his face. She thought about what he was, what he represented, and what he said. Logically speaking, there was only one answer

"Okay," She said, to her complete surprised, it wasn't what she'd intended to say, yet she said it, "Help me."

The Frankie smile quickly turned into the Kol smirk

"Very well Davina, your choice is made, " He blew what looked like dust on her…and she woke up in the attic of St. Anne's Church, in her bed, completely alone.

"How?" Davina asked, when she found a note on her bed.

_Consider this a preview of what I offer_

_Sincerely_

_Kol_

* * *

Marco limped back into his penthouse suite, hoping not to wake Xavier, yet he should have known better, for the moment he closed the door, a light turned on, throwing Xavier's worried face into focus.

"What happened?" he asked, immediately running to his alpha, his mate, his best friend, "What? How?"

"Come down," Marco said as he collapsed onto the couch.

Xavier however, chose not to listen, for the look on his face did not change at all. He ripped off Marco's shirt, bearing the ugly black wound left by the blade into sharp relief.

"What the hell happened?" He asked, his tone demanding a complete answer.

"You are aware which one of us is alpha right?" Marco asked, trying one last time to brush it off.

"I don't care," Xavier nearly screamed, "All my life I've watched every wound you've ever had heal in moments, why is this one still here?"

Sighing, Marco moved so that he was laying down on the couch, scrunching his legs up so that he wouldn't kick Xavier off the thing.

"The blade that did this was a mystic weapon of some kind, Klaus intended it to incapacitate Mikael, but, during the fight, Mikael got a hold of it and stabbed me. It forced me to revert, but it fell out during the process. There's magic in the wound, so it's going to take longer than usual to heal, there's no need to worry and hey," Marco sat up again, wincing as he did, "Why are you crying?" Marco held a hand out to Xavier's face, wiping several tears away.

"A mystic weapon meant to take down Originals, what could it have done if it hadn't gotten dislodged?" Xavier asked, "If you had laid there, helpless, you'd have, you'd…"

Xavier began crying in earnest, and Marco immediately brought him into an embrace, stroking his hair.

"Hey," Marco said quietly, "It didn't stay, I wasn't helpless, I repaid him by shoving it into his heart, granted his somehow pulled it out, but still."

"That's not the point," Xavier said quietly.

"Then what is?" he asked, moving Xavier so that they were eye to eye, "What's the matter? I hate seeing you like this?"

"And I hate seeing you dead," Xavier blurted out, before pausing, he hadn't meant to say that.

"Dead? What are you talking about? I'm not dead," Marco said incredulously.

"Not in real life," Xavier replied, "Here," He pointed to his head, "All my life, you've been superman, but, now they're here. That family has been killing people since the dawn of their rebirth and they've taken out extremely powerful people. Every time I close my eyes I picture one misstep on your part, just one small thing, and suddenly you're gone fo-forever, and I'm all alone."

"Xavier," Marco said, not quiet sure what to say. Usually his mate had a jovial air to him, he hadn't seen this side of him since they were kids.

"People who lose against that family don't die peacefully, or with dignity, and the image of you're mutilated corpse being left on the doorstep as a warning to the rest of us," Xavier paused, taking a breath, "I know it's probably pointless, I know how powerful you are, but still. You go out there against them-and I know you're the only one who really can, sure we can rip apart any vampire who comes our way, but the Originals are in a whole other ball park-and every time you do, there's a part of me thinking, this is it, this is the last time I'll ever see his smile, or hear him laugh. And you're always so goddamn casual about it, about going off to what could very well be your death, it drives me mad."

"I'm sorry," Marco immediately responded, and he was, he hadn't realized the stress he'd been putting on his mate, "I didn't mean to make you go through any of this."

He pulled Xavier in close to him, placing a not quite chaste kiss on his lips.

"But I am here, I'm okay, relatively okay," He amended in response to Xavier tracing Marco's wound with his finger, "You don't have to worry about me, I made a promise, I will always return to you. Now, I'm exhausting, and it's late, what do you say we go to bed?"

Xavier looked at him and smiled sadly, tears still on his face, before nodded, and helping him up and towards the bedroom

* * *

Klaus continued his hunt, sniffing the air for signs of Mikael's scent. He was at somewhat of a disadvantage, Mikael having both weapons, yet at the same time, Klaus was not weakened by Marco's bite, nor suffering aftereffects of the blade. Klaus had a feeling that would tip the scale in his favour.

Suddenly, Klaus picked up a scent, but not Mikael's, no it was…she couldn't have.

Klaus raced to the source and found an old dirt road, with a car that had been knocked onto its side, windows all smashed, the scent strong here, along with traces of Mikael's.

Klaus could see exactly how this happened, Cami having come here, hoping to reach Davina before Klaus could, to help her get away, or to try to talk Klaus down. And instead, she meets Mikael.

Growling, Klaus continued on with new purpose.

* * *

Cami gasped in pain at the strength of the grip on her as the vampire, Mikael, Cami guessed, because who else could it be, led her into the forest.

"Stop it, let go of me," She hollered, while inwardly cursing herself for how foolish it sounded

_Yes Cami, yell at the thousand year old monster, that will make it do what you want. Maybe he'll find the display so hilarious he'll laugh himself to death and you can escape._

Suddenly, Mikael stopped, and turned to her. Looking at him under the light of the moon, Cami realized Mikael didn't look so good. His face was covered in sweat, his eyes darted back and forth, there was a disgusting looking wound on his shoulder, with a strange black liquid on it.

Suddenly, Mikael's eyes cleared and he looked at her.

"I apologize for this, I made an oath centuries ago that I would only feed on the dead, but as you can see my physical state is severely subpar, and I must have as much strength as I can muster for what comes next. I am ashamed to say I am desperate, and during hardship, even the devil eats flies."

His eyes turned red, and he lunged at her, fangs bared, while she screamed.

* * *

**So, here's the next chapter. And bit of a statement, looking into where this story it probably heading, don't be expecting Marcel and co. to show up all that much, I just don't see that many spots for them in this story. That being said, I really like Marcel, and I think having Gia and Josh be the only vampires in his new crew with actual characterization and, you know, actors, was a huge waste of potential. So, I'm planning a second series set in this universe, tentatively titled, 'The Second Kingdom' which will hopefully have its first chapter up in the next week to week and a half.**


	13. Chapter 13

Elijah woke slowly, his head feeling like a sword had been run through it. He heard the drumming of a heartbeat, Klaus' he assumed, and the dripping of a liquid, not water, something thicker, he felt something cold around his wrists and ankles. Suddenly, his memory began to return to him: the false Hayley, the fight with Finn. He tried to move, only to feel himself restricted by chains.

His vision completely returned to him, and he found himself not in his home, but in what appeared to be one of the crypts of the cemetery. A figure was standing at a table in front of him, mixing ingredients together in a bowl. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, allowing him to see perfectly fine, he saw none other than his younger brother.

"Ah," Kol said, smirking gleefully, "I was beginning to worry that Finn had gone a little overboard."

"Where is he?" Elijah asked, doing his best to keep composure, he subtly tugged at the chains, but the refused to move, spelled, to keep him in place.

"Mother's tending to him," Kol walked up to face his elder brother with a look of mock innocence on his face, "You did quite a number on him you naughty boy," His smirk quickly returned, "So, since mother's busy because of you, I'm the one that gets to have all the fun."

"Kol," Elijah pleaded, "Please, be reasonable about this, we're brothers."

"Reason?" Kol repeated, suddenly angry, "I've heard enough of your 'reason' brother. The reason that allowed you to stand there and do nothing while Niklaus ruined my life a thousand times over!" Kol flinched, and was suddenly back to his smooth, calm, self.

"But, we are brother," Kol walked up to Elijah and began to stroke his hair, "And I do love you, that's why I'm doing this. You see, it's going to hurt, but in the end, you will be so much better for it."

Kol leaned in close to Elijah's face, their bodies mere millimetres apart.

"What are you going to?" Elijah whispered.

"Why, darling brother, I'm going to educate you."

"Am I interrupting?" A voice echoed from the front of the crypt.

Kol immediately spun around, mad delight dancing in his ice blue eyes.

Elijah looked to the newcomer, she was a woman, no more than two years older than Kol-at least his physical self-her hairs was black, and came down in curls, her near black eyes looking between the two Mikaelsons. She wore a simple red dress, and a ring on her finger.

"Elijah, " Kol said, walking over to the woman and turning to face him, "I would like to present to you; Hecate L'Estrange, my fiancée."

"L'Estrange…" Elijah muttered as the name filled his head, stories of who that family was, and the atrocities they committed, "Kol, you cannot be serious, the things that family has done-"

"Now now Elijah," Hecate said, walking up towards him, her soft voice seemed to cling to the air longer than it should, she twisted around behind him, before whispering into his ear, "Is there anything my family has done that's truly so much worse than the sins of yours?

"Of course," She said, walking back towards Kol, "It's not a real marriage, more of a business transaction, and anyway, he prefers the company of my brother, apparently, prim and proper isn't his type, though, speaking of brothers, yours seems to have had quite the tussled with Mikael."

"Yes, how did that go?"

"Marco bit Mikael and stabbed him with Tunde's blade, which Mikael managed to pull out. Klaus is currently hunting him."

"Marco does all the work and Klaus gets the glory, how Klaus. Is the situation being monitored?"

"Yes, by my brother and yours."

"Hm," Kol paused for a moment, "Anyway, you my dear, have a job to do."

"Yes," She said, glancing at Elijah, "Though I wonder, are you not capable, you two seemed offly close."

"Not one of my kinks." Kol said simply.

"Very well,"

Hecate walked towards Elijah, stopping in front of him, and, grabbing his chin, forcibly planted a kiss on him.

Elijah felt something inside of him jerk, and when she moved away, he felt like he had just…given up something, or had it taken. He got a glimpse of her eyes, and saw them completely white for a moment, before returning to normal.

She went over to Kol, and then kissed him, and…something, passed between them. Elijah couldn't say what exactly, some kind of force transferred from Hecate to Kol.

"Ah, thank-you," Kol said afterwards, smiling, "Your part is done, so would you like to go or…"

"Oh no," She said, shaking her head and smiling, "After what I tasted, I want to stay and watch this."

"What happened?" Elijah asked, suddenly angry, "What did she do?"

"Oh relax darling," Kol said simply, "She simply gave me some directions of where to go in that pretty little head of yours."

Kol walked over to the table, and reached inside the bowl, revealing a human-esque, looking thing, covered in what appeared to be blood.

"Have you ever heard of the mandrake root brother?" Kol asked, not looking away from the thing in his hands, "They say that its screams can pierce through body, mind and strike at the very soul."

"Kol, no," Elijah began to plead.

"Elijah, yes," Kol rebutted, smiling, he seemed to find Elijah's fear entertaining, "I told you, this will hurt, but it's all for the best, in the end, you will be so much better."

Kol walked directly to Elijah's left, and attached the mandrake to the ceiling with two small ropes, then, removing a small needle from his pocked, he stabbed the mandrake in 'the heart'.

A scream surrounded the area, heard not by the body, but by the soul itself, and Elijah's world began to collapse in on itself under the assault.

* * *

The corridors twisted and turned, like a great hollow serpent, dozens of doors appearing on both sides. Elijah felt like he was flying through these corridors and passageways, downwards, to the underbelly of whatever sick castle this was.

When he finally stopped, he found himself in a circular chamber with four doors. Three of the four were black, but one, the final one, the one directly in front of him, was red.

Reacting to and irrational fear, Elijah immediately began to back away from the red door, only to find the way he had come barred.

"A castle, should of figured," Kol's voice came from beside him.

Elijah immediately lunged for his younger brother, only to find himself moving through him, as if Kol were simply a mirage.

"What is this?" Elijah growled, "Where are we?"

"Oh," Kol said in mock surprise, "Don't you recognize this place? It's your mind after all."

"My…mind?" Elijah asked, suddenly confused.

"Yes, your mind. Different minds have different mental landscapes; yours appears to be a never-ending castle. Makes sense, each door contains a separate piece of you, all perfectly sorted and disconnected, but you see, I'm going to change all that."

Kol pointed towards the red door, "Inside that, is all the truths you've tried to deny, inside that, are the answers to all the questions you haven't even known you were asking, inside that brother, is the real you. Now, what do you say we break it down?"

Elijah snarled, when suddenly the screaming of the mandrake could be heard again, bringing him to his knees in pain, before everything went dark, he thought he heard a door opening.

* * *

Elijah came to with a groan, his body shaking slightly as he forced himself to his feet, to his surprise, someone took hold of him to help him up. He looked towards this person excepting to see Kol's sneering face, yet, to his complete disbelief was greeted with…

"Tatia," Elijah whispered, bewildered and confused, she was a thousand years in the grave, how was, what was, "You can't be here," Was all he could say.

Tatia simply smiled sadly, her brown hair falling to nearly to her waist. She wore a white dress, and she was so pale, she almost appeared to be a ghost.

"Oh Elijah," She said sadly, stroking his face, "What happy times we had known, why were they all reduced to this?" She helped him to his feet, and as he rose, he saw that Kol was nowhere to be seen, and one of the black doors were open.

"Is that were you came from?" Elijah asked

Tatia nodded, "And it is where we must go, come." She began to walk towards the door, but Elijah remained where he was.

"My love, the only way you are going to escape this is by enduring it," Tatia said quietly, "This cannot be overcome."

"If this is my mind, then I command it, I will break free," Elijah responded.

"I am afraid not," She said, walking back to him and taking his hand, staring into his eyes, "The screams of the mandrake continue, piercing your mind, besting it, when the L'Estrange which kissed, you, she struck from you a piece of your essence, which is how Kol located this part of your mind, and how he shields it. There is no other way out but through," She began to walk away again, pulling him by the arm, "Come Elijah, the sooner it begins, the sooner it may end."

* * *

Elijah knew this place, the only time in all of history when he was ever truly at peace: his mortal home, before the insanity of vampirism was ever thrust upon his family.

Tatia was standing next to him, looking to the night sky, before she looked to him, beckoning him to follow her.

She lead him to the heart of their village: the Great White Oak. There were multiple bonfires surrounding the tree, lighting it up in the glow of the flame. All around, people danced and celebrated.

He saw his parents dancing together, and the sight of both of them so happy sent a hurt through Elijah's heart.

He saw Finn standing awkwardly in the shadows, watching his parents dance. Kol snuck up behind him and pushed him into the arms of one of the dancing women, and laughed with her when she began to lead Finn in dance.

"So much happiness and frivolity," Tatia said, "If only all times could be such, ah, there we are."

She pointed to the area near one of the bonfires, where Elijah saw him and Tatia dancing in the light of the fire.

"Tell me Elijah, do you remember this night?" Tatia asked, looking to him.

"Yes," Elijah whispered, he remembered this night, and after all that happened, he didn't want to relive it.

As if sensing his thoughts, the music suddenly stopped, and the Elijah of this memory called to everyone's attention.

"On this hollowed night, I have a request to make, to one of the most wonderful women I have ever had the pleasure, no, the honour, of knowing," Elijah turned to Tatia, and got down on one knee, "Tatia, would you do me the honour, and the privilege, of being my wife?"

There was dead silence as Tatia looked on surprised, before she smiled, "Yes, yes a thousand times yes," and he grabbed hold of her and swung her in his arms while the crowd cheered.

All save one, Niklaus was sitting on a bench, watching the scene with envy in his eyes.

"We were to be so happy together," Elijah muttered, watching how happy the past him and Tatia were, "Before everything went wrong."

"Indeed," Tatia said as the world began to dissolve around them, reforming into Esther's study. Esther, Mikael and Tatia were present.

"Esther, this, what you ask of me…" Tatia said, fear in her force.

"I know Tatia…I know. But, like me, you are a mother," Elijah had never seen Esther so, so raw, she had always managed to keep composure, "Imagine for a moment what you would do in order to protect your child, to ensure that nothing would ever harm him again. That is all I wish, to protect my children."

At those words, a look of determination appeared on Tatia's face. There was nothing Elijah wanted more than to grab her and stop her, stop her from unintentionally helping to ruin everything, but he could not, he passed through her as if he were no more than a mirage.

Tatia held her hand out, and Mikael removed a dagger form its sheath, and cut her hand, allowing blood to fall into a stone bowl.

"I wanted to protect the man I loved," Tatia's voice came from beside Elijah, "I wanted to protect his family, and I helped destroy all of them. I helped destroy me."

"That wasn't your fault," Elijah said as the world dissolved into a new image, Elijah did not bother watching he, he knew this part of the story well, Niklaus' first kill, watching him turn, "Mother made you think you were helping us, mother killed you for the Hybrid's Curse, it wasn't your fault."

"Oh Elijah," Tatia said, tears brimming in her eyes, "Do not speak of what you do not know,"

"What?"

The world dissolved again to the following day, Niklaus sat in the woods, naked and surrounded by dismembered and eviscerated corpses, sobbing. Elijah watched as his past self came to console his younger brother, explaining the situation, and what it meant.

Elijah did not understand the point of this memory; he knew what happened next, the two walked home to confront Mikael and Esther. There was nothing pertinent here.

There was a snapping sound, as someone stepped on a dry twig. Elijah was confused, he did not remember this, the sound, or going to investigate it.

Both present and past Elijah went to go see the source of the sound, to find Tatia there, fear in her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Elijah asked

"I was looking for Joffrey," She said, "I remember that he and his brothers were going hunting, what, what did Klaus do to them?"

"Tatia please calm down," Elijah urged

"No, no, this is my fault," She said breathing heavily, "Your mother told me that the spell she wanted to do would change you, but she said nothing of making you this,"

"Tatia please,"

"NO!" Tatia said, scrambling to run away. However, she tripped and fell, cutting her hand open.

In less than a second, Elijah was by her side, helping her up.

"Are you all…right?" Elijah could smell her blood flowing, could hear her heartbeat.

"Elijah, you are hurting me," Tatia whimpered.

"What? No," Elijah said, moving closer to her neck, not even knowing that his grip had turned steel, "I would," His teeth turned to fangs, his eyes turned red, "Never hurt," his teeth grazed her neck, "You,"

"What is this?" Elijah asked, horrified while he watched he past self feed off of Tatia, as her screams filled the air.

"No!" Elijah said, "No!" He turned to Tatia, "I have no memory of this! This did not happen! It's just more of Kol's games. KOL! Where are you you sadistic snake! Release me from this ridiculous illusion!"

"Elijah," Tatia said calmly.

"No," Elijah said to her, "I have suffered enough under this illusion, I know what happened! Esther took you, she killed you during the Hybrid Curse!"

"She needed my blood Elijah, she did not need my life," Tatia bit back, "She had no use of killing me, and she didn't, you did."

"Then why do I not remember it? I think it would remember feeding on and killing my own wife!" He bellowed

In response, the world turned and shifted, and a new image formed.

Elijah saw his past self carrying Tatia's corpse to his mother, who was in front of the slaughter house, preparing to go cook the meal in front of the building's red door.

She looked upon the scene with horror, running to her son, who begged her for help.

"What is this?" Elijah asked, shocked.

"You wanted to know why you didn't remember killing me, well here's why. You came before your mother begging her to take the pain away. You asked her to take the pain, the shame, all of it away. And so she did, she buried the memories, so deep that they would never rise, and then allowed your mind to fill in the holes. She took the blame and the taint of my murder, out of love for you.

"But, you took the prison meant for one sin, and began burying them all. From this, you learned to separate bits and pieces of yourself, dissociating so many parts so that you could still call yourself a noble man."

Elijah looked to her, and to his horror saw a gaping neck wound, and blood flowing freely down her neck.

"You dress yourself up in fancy clothing, you make sure everything looks immaculate, and so you can convince yourself that it is. You have deluded yourself into thinking you are somehow a good man, well no more, my love, now, the man behind the curtain shall be revealed to all, including you."

The world dissolved again, and when it reformed, Elijah found himself back inside the circular room within the castle that was his mind.

* * *

Looking around, he saw that one of the four doors, the black one Tatia had come through, was gone. When he looked to the red door, he saw that cracks had begun to appear, and through them leaked blood, dripping down the door and onto the floor.

Why isn't it over?

Elijah heard another door open, and a voice speak out

"Oh, we're not done yet Elijah,"

Elijah already knew who it was before turning to meet her. Her voice was identical to Tatia's, yet there could never be two people so different.

"Hello Katerina," He said stoically.

"Hello, now why don't you come along? It's time for a date with the ghost of horrors present."


	14. Chapter 14

So

**So, next chapter's finally here. Got to say, this is one of my favorites, simply because of one sentence of dialogue. So, I hope you like it.**

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Elijah asked her, "I know all of our interactions."

"Oh Elijah," Katherine said, stroking Elijah's face, "We do not represent lost memories, we represent the three faces of your sin," She rose, walking towards the second black door, "Now come, the only way out is through."

Reluctantly, Elijah rose to follow her, his footsteps echoing wet sounds as he walked through the small stream of blood flowing from the red door.

* * *

Elijah found himself with Katherine in a village, one that existed several centuries ago from the looks of it.

"What is this place?" He asked.

"You don't recognize it?" She asked, anger and…sadness in her voice, "What, were you too 'noble' to take part in the deed yourself?"

Before he could ask what she was referring to, she walked forward, Elijah following closely behind.

As soon as he entered the village, he remembered it. It was a village in central Bulgaria, it was 1492, it was the year that the doppelganger of Tatia had finally surfaced, the year Niklaus was finally going to break his curse. But then the doppelganger, Katerina, had run, turned herself into a vampire, and in vengeance, Niklaus slaughtered her entire home village.

"Did any of you help him?" Katherine asked, walking through the bloodied remains, corpses lying left and right. Women and children lying just behind the men that had tried to shield their families from the demons, "Or was it him alone?"

"I took no part in this," Elijah whispered, looking into the empty eyes, staring at nothing, and everything,

"Yes you did," Katherine said, stopping to look back at him, pure rage in her eyes, "Every time you stood there and did nothing, every time you did not stop him, you as good as did the deed along side him. Now come, witness your masterpiece."

Elijah knew what was coming, yet being here, with Katherine, he found himself steeling for it.

Her brother had been gutted, left hanging from the ceiling by his own intestines, Elijah had always wondered how Klaus had managed to get him to stay there, her eldest sister was in pieces, one each of the girls' bedrooms. The younger ones were all clumped together-Katherine had spoken of them once, said they were always near each other-in a pile of limbs and terror stricken faces. Then there were the parents. There deaths had been simple, Niklaus had taken the father's sword and used it to slice open the mother while her husband watched, before pinning the father up on the wall with it. His last sight was that of the wife he failed to protect.

Elijah remembered this, being sickened by it, even Kol, who had given up acting like humans were even sentient beings after his failure to free Finn from the dagger, look appalled.

Never had any of them seen such cruelty and anger from Niklaus. He remembered this day as the one that he realized he needed to focus on his half-brother, the one that had fallen furthest.

"Katerina, I-I understand how horrible this is, but what is this supposed to show, exactly? Beyond Niklaus' penchant for sheer brutality?"

"Oh, this isn't the show," Katherine said, suddenly sneering, "This is just something you get to keep in mind when we get to the real show."

"Real show?" Elijah asked, hesitantly

"Yes, live from an abandoned warehouse somewhere outside New Orleans, we bring you: Mikaelson therapy with Camille O'Connell."

The scene changed, morphing into his father throwing Camille across the room of a warehouse, into a wall.

* * *

There was something wrong with Mikael, he staggered when he walked, and there was a black substance leaking out of a wound on his shoulder.

"What is the point of all of this?" Cami asked desperately

"The boy will come, and when he sees you, he will hesitate, and that's all I need to finally finish him."

"But why?" Cami asked, forcing herself to her feet, "What is the point of all of this? You're immortal, don't you think your life is just a little too long to waste every moment of it on a petty ancient grudge?"

"Petty?" Mikael said, suddenly standing right in front of Cami, "Petty?" He grabbed her and threw her into one of the boxes that dotted the building.

Elijah tried to catch her, but she slipped through as if he weren't even there.

"He ruined my family!" Mikael roared, "He lead my youngest, Henrik, into the woods during the full moon to watch the beasts turn. They tore him apart!"

"It was an accident," Both Elijah and Cami said as one.

"NO!" Mikael screamed, not the animalistic one of before, but a very human one, one all the more terrifying for it. Mikael stared directly into Elijah's eyes, almost as if he could see him-that it was his son he was looking at-not Cami.

"THE SCENT OF THE BEASTS' HUMAN BRETHREN IS THE ONLY THING THAT SOOTHES THEIR RAGE! ALL NIKLAUS HAD TO DO TO SAVE EITHER OF THEM WAS BE NEAR HIS LITTLE BROTHER, INSTEAD I LOST MY SON, MY LITTLE BOY! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT IT IS LIKE TO OUTLIVE YOUR OWN CHILD?!"

Elijah stared forward, he heard the words, yet he could not accept them, he could not accept anything. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Katherine smiling ruefully.

Mikael walked forward, and Elijah stepped aside. He saw that Cami had fallen to her knees, staring and shivering as Mikael stalked forward.

He kneeled down in front of her, looking into her eyes.

"When I first saw the aftermath, Esther was holding him, I felt such relief, until I realized she," Mikael broke off, and to Elijah's shock, he saw a tear run down Mikael's face, "She was trying to keep the pieces together. I, I was simply happy that I had not lost two of my children that night," Mikael's tears ceased, and his face became contorted with rage, "But the moment I saw that sickening gold in his eyes, and watched his true form finally reveal itself, I knew. I knew what he was, and what he had truly done," Mikael rose, "In his obsession with the beasts, he convinced his child brother to go into the woods with him, but the moment that he finally realized he was going to see one, he ran, abandoning his brother to die. He as good as murdered Henrik with his own hands!"

"Then why didn't the curse activate?" Cami asked, tears streaming down her own face.

"It is action that triggers the curse, not inaction, Niklaus was nowhere near his brother when the beasts came."

Mikael turned, walking a ways before turning back.

"When I learned the truth, I confronted Esther. The boy had to punished for his betrayal, and yet, what could we do? After all we had done to ensure his survival, I had no desire to murder him, nor could I banish him, not with the power now at his command. That was when he realized the best course of action, in all its simplicity,"

"Seal the beast," Elijah muttered dumbly

"Remove the wolf," Mikael sneered, "The blood that allowed him to survive when he should have died would be sealed away, and he would become what he should have been all along.

"But he did not see the punishment, for he denied the betrayal. Instead, he chose to see this as a betrayal of him. So, in the dead of night, he walked up to his mother, my wife, and tore her heart from her chest! AND THEN HE BLAMED IT ON ME! I, WHO LOVED HER! I WHO CROSSED THE OCEANS FOR HER! I, WHO SWORE NEVER TO HARM HER! HE FRAMED ME!

"He turned my family against me," Mikael said, dangerously quiet again, "He took them, and he has spent the past thousand years abusing them. Finn; nine hundred years of his life lost for daring to speak out against Niklaus, Kol; mentally assaulted and turned into a monster, Rebekah; reduced from a strong woman to a snivelling girl desperate for some semblance of normalcy. And Elijah," Mikael growled, "The sycophant who stood by and let it all happen.

My hunt will never end, not until the bastard is dead."

"I do think that's enough," Katherine said, standing beside Elijah.

The world faded to darkness again.

* * *

Elijah found himself standing just outside the vampire tomb of Mystic Falls, the place he had temporarily trapped Katherine. Katherine stood just inside, staring at him.

"It was a lie," Elijah said desperately, yet emptily, for he knew the answer before Katherine even spoke.

"No, it was a scried vision of an event happened right now. We just happened to get lucky and show up for the best part."

She walked up to Elijah, and put her hand on his face, forcing him to look at hers.

"We are the faces of your sin. Tatia representing dissociation, you remove things so far from one another that you can't even remember the truth. Me, I represent wilful blindness, your ability to ignore the truths that cannot be forgotten.

"You devoted your entire existence to 'redeeming' Klaus, the monster who tortured my entire village to death because I had the audacity to not want to be ritually sacrificed. You knew it your heart of hearts that something was wrong with the way your beloved little brother died, yet you chose to ignore it. And so, you fail to realise that the Klaus you are trying to get back, his as much a murderer as the one who have."

"No," Elijah said,

"Yes," Katherine screamed, "He knew the danger of the woods, he broke a law that had been pounded in his head for years; as the full moon ascends, the people descend into the caves. He ignored that, worse, he defied it. He was a full-grown man and he convinced his youngest brother to journey with him into the woods, and then the abandoned him. Look at me! This is the man you have been trying to get back! This is the man that you overlooked the butchering of my family for, the butchering of so many others! All so you could turn Klaus back into the man that left his own baby brother to be devoured by the wolves!

"Seeds sewn in the past grow and bear fruit. So this is the horror of present day. That you have aligned yourself with the man that is the reason Henrik died. And from that spark, rose the inferno of vampirism that has consumed all lands for the past thousand years! This is what I show you, Elijah!"

"NO!" Elijah screamed.

He found himself back in the circular room; the second door was gone, leaving only two; one black, one red.

Elijah looked upon the red door to see that where once were mere cracks, there were now holes, and where once blood trickled through, now it flowed.

"Do not be overcome yet," the voice came from behind him, "there is one last trial to face."

Elijah again knew who it was; he knew the moment he returned that she would come. He rose, he once immaculate, as Tatia had called it, clothing now stained by the blood flowing from the red door, and turned to face the third and final face.

"Elena Gilbert," Elijah said, resigned to whatever horror she represented.

She simply turned and walked to the final door, Elijah, numbly following her.


	15. Chapter 15

Southern Norway, 841

They struck in the middle of the night, forty-five in number. The outlaws at been scouting the town for three days, and knew when to strike. They charged the village, killing indiscriminately, taking what they wanted, then burning the buildings down. They ravaged, pillaged, raped, and burned to their hearts content that night, and then left with the spoils of their spree; food, and objects of value. They left none alive, none, save for a young woman in ripped clothes, her body lying near dead after the outlaws broke into her home and brutalized her, defiled her.

Her body was broken, yet she would not die, something kept her there, kept her strong. For days on days she lay there, waiting for the death that did not come. With great pain, she turned her head to the sight of her brothers. Both had been slaughtered while trying to defend her.

Tears began to fall down her face, her life was over, her village was gone, her body was broken and she was alone. Why couldn't she just die? She wanted it to be over. Why couldn't it just be over?"

She suddenly felt anger pulsing from within her. Those monster had come to her home and ruined everything, ruined her. They were the ones to blame for this, they were a blight on this earth.

Her anger grew and grew, like a living thing within her, roaring, seething, looking for release, until it could be contained no longer.

Her body rose off the ground unnaturally, and she let out a scream, pouring all her rage and grief into it. The sky responded, and her scream became thunder, her pain lightning. It surged forward and began striking the land that housed those that had defiled her and destroyed her home.

She moved forward, aided by the wind. She walked, every moment causing pain to pulse through her, yet still she walked, a morbid excitement calling her to the scene.

The outlaws had made camp in a clearing, with a single great tree standing in the middle. All around it were burnt corpses, the only remains of the enemy. She walked over and stood by the great tree, and observed the remains of the monsters. She felt her energy fade, with them gone, her rage was spent, and she fell.

"Help me," She begged, to who or what she did not know.

She lay against the tree, and felt sparks of the power she had unleashed earlier.

"Help me," She said again, and the tree embraced her, sharing its life force with her, and with the two young ones that now began to grow within her.

* * *

New Orleans, Modern Day

"Sometimes there's honor in revenge," Elijah watched a memory of himself say, explaining why he wanted Klaus dead.

"You hated that he threw your siblings into the ocean," Elena said from beside him, "Even though you stood by and allowed him to dagger your siblings, even helped him from time to time, that was a line that Klaus shouldn't have crossed. He convinced you that it was for the good of the family, and once Mikael was gone, there would be no need to trap your siblings."

The scene shifted, to the Hybrid Ritual. Elijah watched his past self place his fist in Klaus' chest. Klaus, weakened by the Bennett witch's power to the point where he was little more than a regular vampire. So close to death.

"You swore you'd help up kill him, but then he revealed it was all a lie. Finn, Kol, Rebekah, they were safe if you went with him. And then he added you to his collection."

"What is the purpose of this?"

"It's a walk down memory lane Elijah, what purpose could it possibly have?"

The scene changed again, to Elijah awakening, removing the heart of the hybrid, staring his traitorous brother in the eyes.

"Mikael was dead, and yet Klaus refused to free your siblings, so you took matters into your own hands."

Elijah's memory self removed the daggers from his siblings' chests, anger and sadness evident in his eyes.

"You were prepared to do what you knew on some level you should have done centuries ago; leave him for the good of the others. But of course your mother screwed with that plan. And, though you had promised my friends and I you wouldn't hurt any of us. You imprisoned me with Rebekah, with orders for her to kill me if your plan didn't go through. You had the Salvatores kill and turn Bonnie's mom into a vampire.

"And in response I murdered your brother."

The scene showed Finn and his lover Sage in a back ally. A door opened, Elena and her friend, Matt, firing a stake from a crossbow. Finn burned, Sage sobbing in anguish.

"And Finn's bloodline died. How many vampires do you think were in that bloodline? A hundred? A thousand? Ten thousand? Of course," She turned to Elijah, "I wanted to kill you too. Your family was linked, I we wanted to kill all of you just to kill Klaus. And when you learned of this, you did nothing. You made excuses. You told yourself that since Finn tried to help Esther, he was a traitor. He didn't deserve vengeance. Even though you once said 'Family above all'," She did an impersonation of him, "You did nothing. And then came this."

"Kol's trying to kill you, you're going to kill Kol." A memory of Elena told her brother.

"I murdered Kol," Elena said, an odd calm in her voice, "Sure, I had Jer do the actually deed, but it was as good as me. I planned it, I put everything together, I wanted Kol dead and his bloodline to follow, and what did you do?"

Elena stood in front of Elijah, using her hands to force him to look into her eyes.

"When you and I met again, what did you say to the woman who murdered your baby brother? Say it Elijah!"

"I said it would be a tragedy if the world lost a soul as compassionate as your," Elijah said, tears beginning to fall down his face as he realized where this was going.

"What kind of honourable man would say that? Didn't you believe in family above all? Wasn't Kol part of your family? This is the revelation I give to you of noble one," She spat the words

"When you are wilfully blind to your own misdeeds, and the misdeeds of others, you warp yourself. You have broken whatever claim to nobility you once had. You are nothing but a hypocritical monster."

The scene dissolved, and he returned to the room. The Red Door was gone, and a river of blood was pouring forth from the empty space.

Tatia, Katerina and Elena stood around him, chanting; "Wake the man, reveal the monster. Reveal the monster, break the man. Wake the man, break the man." Continuously.

As the blood rose, they began to chant faster. Elijah began pounding on the walls, desperate to find a way out, but the blood seemed to cling to him pulling him down. Higher and higher it rose, engulfing him. It was up to his waste, his chest, his shoulders, his head.

And then it rose over his head head, drowning him, and utterly consuming him.

* * *

Mikael stood faced against Klaus, Cami, Davina-who had chosen to track Mikael down-, and several werewolves.

"You think you can subdue me! With this!" Mikael hollered, even as he fought to keep himself standing, the amount of will that was required to keep the dementia at bay was staggering, "Mutts and children and fools. An army worthy of you, boy."

"You don't look so well, father," Klaus sneered, "Perhaps you'd like a nap."

Mikael prepared to lunge when he heard a quiet flapping sound. He glanced up and saw a multitude of moths on the ceiling. Dust fell from their wings, and suddenly he felt himself begin to tire. His body felt heavy, he looked forward and saw the others in similar states. The last thing he saw before he collapsed was the form of a young boy, watching with a stoic expression.

Esther walked into the tomb that housed her sons, "Is it done?" She asked quietly.

"Well," Kol responded easily, "It will take a few days for it to all settle, but yeah, and if I say, I'm rather proud of my work here."

Esther walked forward to see her son. Elijah stood still as a statue, his eyes blood red with black veins surrounding them.

Cami groaned as she woke, feeling as if she was waking from severely oversleeping. Her bed felt oddly cold and stiff.

As she got up, her head started pounding as the events started coming back to her.

She stood there, staring at Klaus, betrayal seething in her eyes.

"Tell me it's not true," She said, venom in her voice.

"What's not…I haven't got time for this, where did he go?" Klaus turned to leave.

"Don't you dare turn your back on me Niklaus Mikaelson!" Cami screamed, "Tell me, that after months of listening to you rant, rave and wine about how everything wrong with you is your parents' fault, and how it was so unfair that Mikael hunted you, it wasn't because you led your baby brother into the woods and then abandoned him, and them murdered your mother because you didn't like getting punished for it!"

A split second, Klaus hesistated, but that split second was all Cami needed.

"You're a monster," With that Cami made to leave.

"Camille," Klaus said, grabbing her.

Cami pulled out a small knife, and stabbed Klaus. He recoiled, feeling as if he'd just been electrocuted.

"Dark objects," Cami said, "It's amazing what they're capable of. I also have one that makes me immune to compulsion, to don't try to make me forget. In fact, don't try anything. Don't try to come to me later, don't try to explain yourself, don't try to do anything. I am done with you.

* * *

Mikael bolted upright as he regained consciousness. He was in a small cabin. The sound of moths flying echoed in the air. He looked forward and saw a young boy sitting on a chair by him. The boy looked up towards him, his face stoic.

"What is this?" He said glancing around, "Who are you?"

In response, boy uttered two words.

"Hello papa,"


	16. Chapter 16

Well, this took a while, but here's the update :)

* * *

"You should really learn to be more careful, your brother very nearly killed you."

"I know, Ayana," Finn replied to the witch next to him, tending his wounds, "And speaking of which, how is dear Elijah?"

"Esther left him in the care of Kol, so, more than likely he is in incredibly poor condition."

"The mind was always Kol's area of expertise...have you seen him?" Finn tried, and failed, to keep the emotion out of his voice.

"Kol? Not since he left his spell to do its work. He went off with that girl he thinks he's keeping a secret. You know," She touched his face, pulling it to face hers, "You can always just go talk to him."

Finn was shaking his head before she finished, "He has no desire to see me,"

"And that desire will never change until you actually go and speak with him. I remember the two of you when you were children, always together. You were more than brothers, you were best friends. When he was seven you made him a promise. What was it?" She asked firmly

"Ayana, times have changed,"

"What was it?"

"We..." Finn broke for a moment, "I promised that I would always be there for him, that we'd be together. Always and Forever."

"Yes. Always and Forever. Last I checked, the first moment of forever has not even come to pass. I returned to this land to help Esther heal and repair her family. That includes the two of you, heal your relationship with Kol. I guarantee you that some part of him wants that back, wants you back. He's just too afraid to admit it. The past thousand years has not taught him to expect good things from brotherly love."

"I am NOTHING like Niklaus!" Finn screamed vehemently.

"Then prove it to him," Ayana said simply, before rising, "Keep the paste on your wounds for the next ten minutes, and you'll be as good as new."

* * *

Esther watched as Kol sat at a table on the floor below, speaking with Hecate L'Estrange, an hourglass with red sand pouring away on the table before her.

"You know, it is generally considered healthy to give children their space once they reached a certain age," Ayana said, sitting beside her, "He will certainly not appreciate the invasion of his privacy."

"I've been looking into this girl he's with," Esther replied, "Her family was shunned and banished for an attempted coup d'état against all nine covens. The things they've done, the crimes they've committed..."

"Are likely no worse than the things your family has committed. I doubt anything she or hers could have done that would cause Kol to object morally. The L'Estranges can trace their family back to before the unification of France, even removed from the grace of the Ancestors, they still have much power. From that point of view, an alliance between the two is not all that illogical."

Esther's expression became remorseful, before returning to the stoicism that had become its default, and the two became silent for a time.

"How long is this going to go on for Esther? A thousand years has taught your children to be resilient, if only out of spite. They will not yield easily, even Kol plots behind your back. And now with Mikael's return..."

"It will work, it has to,"

"As far as they are concerned you tried to murder Niklaus' son,"

"I had no choice,"

"I know that, you know that, but them? They cannot know that, not with what they believe."

The sands of the hourglass finished.

"Elijah's finished his acclimation," Esther said, avoiding the subject, "Will you return him to his home?"

Ayana nodded, and silently rose.

* * *

"How is this possible?" Mikael asked, an odd vulnerability on his face as he faced his youngest son, "You...you died. How have you returned?"

"I was trapped deep within the Other Side, trapped between this world and the next," Henrik said, walking around a table in the cabin, upon which the white oak stake lay. His tone was emotionless, "Being pulled between the Other Side and the afterlife, unable to escape. Until mother was able to set me free," He turned to face his father, "As the Other Side began to collapse, the pain relented enough for me to call out. She was finally able to hear me, and she pulled me back."

"And what is it you want of me?"

Henrik held up his hand, and a moth came to lie on it. Others came, and began landing all over him.

"They are drawn to me because they can sense death," Henrik said, emotion entering his voice for the first time. Raw, pure rage, "He abandoned my in the woods, and left me to die. I was alive when the wolves ripped into my flesh and began to devour me. For a thousand years I have known only endless torment because of him! Mother believes that she can somehow save our family, and have it so that we can all live in peace again! But _he does __**not**__ deserve it_!"

Mikael stared at his son, listening to the rage and venom in his voice.

"And that's where I come in," Mikael surmised.

Henrik nodded, "My father, predator of vampires and breaker of wolves. I want you to finally finish the hunt you started a millennium ago. I want to kill him, mother and her delusions be damned."

* * *

Klaus was exhausted in a way he had not felt for centuries. All he desired at this point was to find out that this was all a nightmare that he had dredged up in a particularly deranged piece of his mind. Yet he knew that that was an impossibility. Mikael had managed to get under Camille's skin, convince her that somehow he, Niklaus, was responsible for Henrik death! He felt his eyes begin to change in response to the rage.

How could she!? How could she possible believe that he had been responsible for Henrik's-

He-He wasn't, he told himself viciously, yet again, it was a routine with him, a ritual that had become as necessary to his survival as blood. It wasn't his fault, there had been nothing he could possibly have done. It wasn't his fault, there had been nothing he could possibly have done. Mikael was twisting events, trying to turn the few allies he actually had against him. It wouldn't work, if he had to lash them to the wall and explain it in detail.

It wasn't his fault, there was nothing he could possibly have done.

He walked through the hallways of his home, calling for Elijah.

It wasn't his fault, there was nothing he could possibly have done.

"ELIJAH! Where the bloody hell are you!? I need to talk to you."

Niklaus found him in his room, looking as if he'd walked through a warzone. Someone had gotten to him already.

It wasn't his fault, there was nothing he could possibly have done.

"Elijah has been under the care your younger brother. Kol has been helping him...coming to grips with a few things." A women's voice came from behind him.

Niklaus turned, prepared to rip the intruder apart, only to stall in the face of the woman before him.

"Ayana," He said unbelievingly. He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised that Esther would call on her best friend to aid her, yet, he found himself staring at her, feeling as if he were six years old again, "What are you doing here?"

"I am here to help heal this family, but these secrets, these lies, they need to stop. Only once everyone has reached the same understanding, can the healing truly begin."

"I do not care for your sermons!" Niklaus raged, "I require no healing! I have done NOTHING!"

It wan't his fault, there was nothing he could possible have done.

"Your vehement refusal implies otherwise, yet it was not of you that I spoke, but of me, and Esther."

"What?" Niklaus asked suspiciously

"Do you want to know the real reason why Mikael, Esther and I crossed the oceans all those centuries ago? Why Esther felt the need to sentence your child to death? Why she is so obsessed with having you all together? Let me tell you my story Niklaus, let me show you the truth."


	17. Chapter 17

"This is so wrong," Kol said, staring at the blue urn that contained the ash that was his original body, "This is seriously messed up."

"Then it should be right up your alley," Odin noted, chuckling.

"Not funny darling, seriously, why do I have to do this?"

"Our agreement was, in exchange for access to our knowledge and resources, you give us a child of Mikaelson blood, however your body is not part of the Mikaelson family. Therefore, father devised this spell so that this body might be bound to the Mikaelson bloodline."

"You're asking me snort my own damn ashes! That," Kol pointed emphatically to the urn, "Is not a jar of pot, it's...it's me!"

"We're not asking you to chug the whole thing. It will only take a pinch, there'll still be quite a bit left," Hecate said, smirking, it was extremely rare to see the wily Mikaelson off kilter, it was rather amusing.

Hecate took some of the ash and put it on the table, Kol glared at her, grimaced, and then moved to do the deed. Hecate and Odin began chanting and Kol felt the power rush over him, images of his original form flashed in his mind.

Kol stumbled back a bit, and when he righted himself, he looked to the twins, who were still smirking at him.

"So," Kol said forcing himself to sound casual, "Let's get this marriage thing done with so we can get to the honeymoon," The look on Hecate's face was definitely worth it.

* * *

"Tell me the truth?" Klaus asked, chuckling, "So you're going to feed me tales of sadness to try to make me sympathize with her? I've got better things to do, like for example, trying to fix my brother from whatever hell Kol unleashed on him."

"There is nothing you can do for Elijah, he will come to in his own time. I do not tell you this to make you sympathize with her, merely so that you might understand. It may even do Elijah good, I have little doubt that he can hear us, having something to focus on may help draw him back."

The bait was obvious...and yet. Klaus had always trusted Ayana, she had always been their friend, and provider of sage council. Like Esther she radiated power, yet she was never as intimidating has his mother. Besides, her profession was that of a healer, what could the results of a trap by her be? To heal him to death?

"Very well...I suppose the best place to start, would be the beginning, with Gwen."

"Who?" Klaus had never heard that name before.

Ayana gave Klaus a serious look, "Your grandmother."

"My"

"Niklaus please, let me finish.

"Gwen was born in a small village near the northern border of the British Isles, and for the first sixteen or so years of her life, she lived a rather unremarkable one, at least until they came. The Vikings."

As if in response, Elijah groaned, and began thrashing around.

'Hold him down!" Ayana said immediately, moving toward Elijah.

Niklaus moved toward his elder brother quickly, trying to hold him steady, no simple feet, Elijah no longer seemed to be able to control his strength. All the while, Elijah screamed wildly.

"What is happening to him!?" Niklaus bellowed over the sound of his brother's screams.

"Sensory overload!" Ayana responded, "Memories are overlapping and overwhelming his brain."

Ayana rubbed her hands together and muttered an incantation, and then put her right hand on Elijah's forehead, "Be at peace...be at peace."

Slowly, Elijah began to calm down, before his eyes closed. Niklaus laid Elijah down in his bed, before turning to Ayana, "How long is he going to be like this?"

"A day or so, it depends on how many memories he buried and abandoned."

"Buried and abandoned? What exactly did mother have Kol do to him?"

"I know not all the specifics. All I know is Elijah did something shortly after turning, and Esther eased his pain, but it had the side effect of giving him a way to dispose of pieces of himself he did not want."

"I'm going to murder them both, you do know that?"

"I am not so sure you would be able to, but by all means try. Indeed, I believe Kol intends to make a game out of it."

Klaus grimaced, Kol's games were violent, no doubt doubly so now that he reclaim his magic.

"You were telling me about Gwen," Klaus said

"Indeed, understand that this part I did not witness myself, I glean what little I could from the Earth, but, violent acts are sadly, far better remembered," She turned and looked to a painting of Klaus' that hung on the wall, one of an old growth forest that Elijah had loved, "The Vikings came and did what Vikings do; they raided, pillaged and slaughtered. And they did slaughter everyone, Gwen's siblings, her parents and friends, but not her. They had far different intent for her, and a few other young women in the village. They beat her and took her back to their land, and in a place where they made camp, they each took turns raping her."

Klaus felt fury rising in him at the story, and a sense of dread, he had a feeling he knew where this story was headed.

"A few of the prisoners killed themselves, others just weeped for their fate. After they finished with Gwen, she was so broken that they thought she would be dead soon, so they left her for dead. However, as she lay at Death's door, something woke inside her."

"Magic," Klaus surmised

Ayana nodded, "There's a saying among the witches that pain is the price of power. Werewolves possess great ability and ferocity, but they must turn. Vampires are immortal, yet the scars of their minds drive them to madness, and witches," Ayana grabbed the necklace that hung around her neck, "magic saps the strength of our bodies and feeds off the power of our minds. And all the rage Gwen had, provided a lot of power. She forced her broken body to rise, called on the wrath of the storm to kill the people that ruined her life, and then made their camp her home. She fed off the life force of the plants to heal her. She had lost everything, yet she kept herself alive, if only to spite those who ruined her life."

"At least until she realized she was pregnant," Klaus guessed.

"Yes," Ayana said, turning to him, "And thus begins the next chapter of the tale. The tale of the twins; Esther...and Dahlia."

* * *

**A little shorter than I intended, but with any luck the next bit of will be up in the next couple days (hopefully). Anyway, reviews as always, are welcome :)**


	18. Chapter 18

"Dahlia? I've never heard of her. I've never heard of any of this," Klaus whispered. Gwen, Dahlia. So much of the story he never knew, never even guessed at. The logical part of him mind told him that it shouldn't be all that surprising. His parents never spoke of anything that happened before their move across the oceans. The only reason he even knew about Freya was because Finn had mentioned her once, and insisted on including the name on the wall with the rest of the family, but even then, he knew nothing of her save that she died. It had never truly dawned on him how little he knew of his own parents. He'd just learned more of her in a few seconds a thousand years later than he had during his entire childhood.

"Pain often begets silence," Ayana said, sadly, "Dahlia and Esther were born mere moments apart, at twilight. Gwen only survived because of her life force being connected to the forest's."

"Why did she even decide to have them? A further display of spite?"

"Perhaps, of perhaps, despite the circumstances surrounding their conception, she still found it in her heart to love them. In any case, whatever compassion she had for them extended to them only. She despised the outside world. She carved her name into the trees, forming a barrier that hid them, and barred access to the small woods. They fed off the plants and what animals came through. However, over time the magic began to take its toll. In order to sustain the barrier, and her broken body, it became necessary to enter a period of slumber. For a lunar month, she had to rest, her body tended to by her daughters. Then she would wake for the next, before going to slumber again. It was during one of these slumbers that I came to know them."

Ayana held out her hand again, and Klaus took it. The world dissolved and in its place was a jungle.

"I was born in central Africa, to a small coven. We were healers, and translators. For the first ten years of my life, I was content. But then war broke out," Screams and blood filled the air, "Seeking to save me, my parents concocted a powerful spell of translocation, one that would take me far from my now desecrated home, to a place where war could not find me."

"A place like a forest enchanted by a barrier,"

"Yes," Ayana said, pain obvious in her eyes, eventually spilling into tears, "Forgive me, this is," She steadied herself, "This is the first time I have spoken of my parents in centuries."

Klaus stared at her, how odd, to have naught but love for one's parents, how simple. Eventually, Ayana continued.

"I appeared outside their home, starving and dehydrated, an unforeseen side effect of the spell," Klaus watched as the young Ayana lay on the ground outside a home that look as if the tree had twisted itself into that shape. Slowly, two young girls came out of the house, one hair golden like the sun, the other with hair as black as night. The former hid behind the latter, only peaking out slightly.

Klaus walked over to the apparition and stared into her eyes. His mother, young, innocent, untainted by the lies and treacheries to come.

The other, Dahlia Klaus presumed, walked up to the child Ayana, and her hand on her forehead, before standing. She held her hands in a bowl and began muttering. Moisture in the air began to gather and form in her hands, into a sphere of water, floating. Moving her hands, the water floated down to Ayana, who opened her mouth and allowed the water to enter her. The image dissolved and reformed, Klaus didn't know exactly how much time had passed, but the apparition of Ayana no longer looked like she was at Death's Door. She was sitting across from Dahlia, their palms outstretched and touching.

"What are you doing?"

"Communicating, we did not know each other's languages, so a different form of communication was required. This permitted us to transmit thought and intent directly, as well as slowly permitting us both to learn each other's tongues."

"Esther seems somewhat reluctant."

"I was the first person outside of her mother and sister she'd ever seen, it took Dahlia some time to allow this. Both came to accept me in time, which was fortunate, for the mother was a different story."

The scene dissolved and reformed to show Gwen standing in before her children, who were both shielding Ayana. Gwen looked old, and tired, yet there remained something ferocious about her.

"She is an outsider!" Gwen hollered, "She is not one of us, throw her back to the world from which she came! She will ruin us!"

"No mother," Dahlia said eventually, "She's not. She's like us. Gifted, like us. She's one of us! And besides, she's been here an entire month! If she sought to ruin us, she would have done it by now! You told us that the outside world is harsh, and cruel. Do not force us to throw her to it."

Gwen looked at her daughters, from Dahlia to Esther. Both remained resolute, then, finally, she turned away.

"So I was accepted, grudgingly and reluctantly, but accepted nonetheless. I was supposed to wait for my parents to come claim me, but over time I began to realize they never would. Whether it was because they were dead, or they simply did not have the means to find me-I suspect that the moment Gwen realized the vulnerability in her barrier, she corrected it-I do not know. But I was content; I even began to view Esther and Dahlia as sisters. I taught them pieces of what I'd learned, and they taught me what their mother had taught them. I helped them tend to their mother's slumbering form, even though she never came to accept me as family, even she appreciated that I made the transition to and from slumber easier. For over half a decade I was as happy as I could be, all things considered."

"What changed?" Klaus asked, curious as to what could possibly have broken the seeming perfection of this.

"Esther grew curious. My coming had awoken a hunger inside her, a hunger to see the world outside of the small forest," Tears began to form in Ayana's eyes again, "I told her of my home, and she began to desire to see the rest of the world. The trees that were once guardian became jailers, and her home, a prison. Silently it festered in her heart, until one day, during her sixteenth year."

The scene formed, playing out as Ayana narrated it.

"Esther had discovered another weakness to Gwen's barrier, one that could only be exploited by one within its boundary. By taking a branch of one of the enchanted trees, and carving the symbol that Gwen had into it, one could pass back and forth through the barrier as they pleased. The very first night Gwen entered her slumber; Esther left and began exploring the surrounding areas. Dahlia discovered almost immediately of course, and was vehemently against Esther ever doing it again. However, Esther had argued that, since she had done it successfully and not gotten killed, clearly the stories that their mother had told her exaggerated, memories altered by the bitterness of time. Esther refused to be denied anymore, she had tasted freedom, and lusted for more. I offered to accompany her, an added insurance for her safety, Dahlia grudgingly and reluctantly agreed."

Klaus watched Esther and Ayana travel across forest and field, until coming across what was clearly a Norseman village.

"The death of so many raiders by Gwen's hands years ago altered the balance of power in the region," The true Ayana said, coming to stand by Klaus, "Old jarldoms fell, new ones rose. A man named Jarl Bjørn Halderson now controlled these lands, a giant of man, deadly to his enemies, yet friendly to his allies."

"How did you know which you'd be?"

"We didn't, it was a risk, but Esther had spent her whole life afraid, she was not going to give in again. So we went to Jarl Bjørn's village, pretending to be the daughters of raiders off sailing. And that was where she met him."

"Mikael?"

"No, Erik. Mikael's elder twin."

"Mikael had a brother?" Klaus said, staring in shock at the apparition of the man smiling at Esther.

Ayana chuckled, "He had five, though Erik was his only elder brother. Erik was Bjørn's heir, and greatly loved by his people. Mikael quieter, though he thought the world of Erik."

"But I don't understand if Erik was the she loved, how did she end up marrying Mikael?"

"That will come in time, but suffice to say, you are correct. She did fall in love with Erik, and he with her. She'd come to him during Gwen's slumber, she became enamoured with him, his culture, the tales of the places they'd seen. At first we'd go for a few days, return home, then to the Norse village, back and forth. But slowly she began to spend longer and longer there, I stopped going with her, staying to help Dahlia tend to Gwen's sleeping form."

"An awful lot of effort, just to please Esther."

"It was more than that," Ayana retorted, "Esther tried to convince Dahlia to join her, but Dahlia refused, insisting that she had to look after their mother. At first it was all innocent, though if it remained there after a time, I do not know. I believe Dahlia did not believe that Esther would find the outside world to her imagined standards, let alone surpassing them. Eventually though, it all came to head when Esther took one day too long, and Gwen discovered everything."

Ayana became silent, permitting the scene to play out before them.

Esther walked into the clearing, wearing a white dressed adorned with fur, Klaus realized the symbols of marriage on Esther's hand and head.

"How dare you," Gwen spat, shaking with rage, Ayana and Dahlia standing off to the side, looking between mother and daughter, worried about the outcome, "HOW DARE YOU!"

"You know that you are not permitted to go beyond the tree line. With this act of disobedience, you have betrayed me!

"Betray?" Esther repeated. Klaus recognized the tone in her voice, it reminded him of a wolf right before it strikes, she hadn't yet come to radiate power like she would, but the quiet seething rage was clearly as much a part of her as the curiosity that drove her into the world.

"Very well then mother, where then shall I go? The hovel?" She pointed towards their home, "The stream? The garden? The flowerbeds, oh no wait I'm not allowed to go that far, I might encounter another person, and you can't have that. Not if you wish to keep your great deception alive."

"It is too dangerous,"

"Yes!" Esther bellowed, years of emotion finally spilling out, "That is what you have said. The world out there is cruel! They will hate us! Harm us! Kill us! So we remain here! Staring at the same trees, the same rocks, the same water, well I was tired of it. I longed to see another face, so I did. I saw these men who spent my entire life hammering into my head were demons and I have discovered your lies mother!" "The world out there did not hate me. It embraced me! In it I found wonder, excitement, friends, even my husband!" Gwen looked as if she'd just been gutted, "Yes, mother. That is why I was late; I was wed to Erik Bjørnson. The most wonderful man I have ever met, and I have met several, no thanks to you. The dangers you speak of have vanished mother, so what need have I to fear them."

Gwen roared thrust out her hands, shaped like a cage, toward Esther. Her body seized, frozen by her own mother's spell. Pure hate filled Esther's eyes and she screamed, a sound of rage and betrayal. Gwen's spell failed as Esther surged forward, and Gwen herself was thrown on her back.

Dahlia ran to her mother, who pushed her aside, staring at Esther.

"You claim that this place isn't a prison, yet would use magic to hold me here? If this is magic then I shall have none of it. I am leaving, and for the first time in my life, I am going to live."

Esther turned to Ayana, and to Dahlia. Ayana walked over to Esther, "I had no loyalty to Gwen, in truth, I was happy for the chance to leave her, but Dahlia," Esther's sister looked away, "Dahlia couldn't bring herself to admit that she wanted to leave too."

Esther and Ayana turned to leave, when Gwen suddenly spoke, "You think me a deceiver? An old crone spinning fantasies? You are a fool. Mark my words daughter; if you leave this place, then you will be ruined. All your power, all the joys of your new life will not be enough to prevent. Everything you love will be ripped from you, without mercy. And when this day comes to pass, think of me, for I am your constant, and my shade shall haunt you in the shadows of your mind, Always and Forever."

Without word, Esther and Ayana left.

The scene dissolved, and Klaus found himself back in his home. Elijah lay peacefully next to him.

* * *

"That can't be the end of it," Klaus said, still trying to process the information.

"No, it's no, just the end of a chapter of the tale. Gwen had died a few months after Esther and I left, Esther sensed it as it happened. She pretended not to care, but I know that, despite everything, she grieved silently. We'd been living with the Norsemen for two years, and all seemed well, save one aspect. Esther had yet to give Erik a child. There was talk that she was cursed, and there was even some pressure for Erik to divorce her, and find a fertile wife." Ayana said, a disdainful expression on her face, "I attempted to help her, but I could not. Fertility spells were useless, at least the ones I knew of."

"She was barren?" Klaus asked, even more confused than before, "That's impossible, I am a testament to that."

"Are you? Esther became convinced that petty rumour might actually be true, as she did know of one who would hex her with sterility, if only out of spite."

"Her own mother?" Klaus was starting to sense the familial bond with his grandmother; she definitely had the Mikaelson spite.

"She insisted on going alone, and returned overjoyed. Within a month, Esther was pregnant, with Freya," Ayana held out her hand, and as Klaus took it, he saw two small children, a girl with hair golden like the sun, and a boy with hair as black as night, "Finn was born barely eleven months after his sister. And for a time, they were at peace."

Klaus saw little Finn playing with a wooden sword in a fight against Erik, while Esther watched, smiling with Freya sitting on her lap. Mikael, and several others who Klaus guessed were his brothers, watched, smiling. Klaus had never seen Mikael smile before.

"What went wrong?"

"Pain is the price of power," Ayana said angrily, "And family is power. Dahlia had demanded payment for her services." The scene dissolved and changed to a night in the dead of winter, Dahlia was in the village, in their home, holding Freya, Esther and Ayana stood in front of her, fear on Esther's face, anger on Ayana's. Freya and Finn were both crying.

"Do not pretend that this falls within the domain of your bargain," Ayana spat, "You have no right to do this."

"Don't I?" Dahlia sneered, "In exchange for granting my sister the ability to conceive, it was agreed that her firstborn shall be taught witchcraft by me, ensuring that the art continues to thrive in this family. Nowhere was it agreed upon where this tutelage will take place, and I choose it to be far from you and this filthy people."

"Please Dahlia," Esther begged, the strength that held her against her mother seemed to have abandoned her. She thought that, despite everything, she and Dahlia were still family, "I cannot give up my child!"

"Oh I am owed far more than this child!" Dahlia held Freya closer to her, "By granting you the ability to conceive, every being that shall ever come in your bloodline shall exist thanks to my power, and as such, they shall all inherit your debt."

"No, no, Dahlia don't do this," Esther whispered, begging.

"It is already done, sister! Perhaps if you hadn't given up on your own talents, you would have sensed the nature of the pact you made. Our bargain was for this firstborn, and every firstborn that shall come. As long as your line shall last I shall come for them, and should anything prevent me from having my due, and I shall undo yours, and end your bloodline. Permanently."

Anger began to form in Esther's eyes, "If you do this sister, I swear, I shall return to the craft, I will hone my skills day and night, and when Bjørn and his men return I shall empower them all and destroy you!"

"Go ahead and try," Dahlia growled, before disappearing in a twister of smoke.

Klaus stared, the words twisting in his head.

"That was why Esther sought to kill your boy," Ayana said, "By making you all vampires, Esther had removed the abilities of your siblings to have children. Had the child lived, Dahlia would have taken him and destroyed all of you."

"You sound awfully confident in her abilities," Klaus said, his voice turning animalistic and his eyes turning golden, his sclera red, rage pounding through every facet of his being, "I've killed for a thousand years, I even killed my own mother, my own father, rivers can be filled with the blood of my victims, and you think that a spectre from the ancient past can kill me!"

"I excepted such rage,"

"She had no right! To offer such on behalf of all that would come."

"She didn't know what she was offering, had you gone to Rebekah with a similar deal, would you suspect her of twisting it into its worst possible incarnation? Esther was naïve; we all were once. Now, do you wish to hear the end? It answers your final question."

Klaus nodded his head, still glaring at her.

"We waited for the raiders' return, that we might prepare them to go and reclaim Freya, however instead of a returning host with plundered riches, one lone man returned: Mikael. He claimed that a freak storm had appeared out of nowhere, snuffing out all light, and that when he had regain his sight, everyone was dead, save him. All Esther's plans to reclaim Freya died in a single moment."

"She believed Dahlia responsible."

"It is the most likely scenario."

The scene returned to the room Dahlia had stood in, how occupied by Esther, whose head lay between her legs, sobbing. Finn stood next to her, trying to comfort her, not truly understanding what had happened. What stuck Klaus though, was her stomach. She was pregnant, Klaus realized, he was looking at the unborn Elijah.

"Esther," Mikael said walking up to her, "I want you to know, that Erik had me promise that, should anything happen to him, I would take care of you, whatever it took."

Slowly Esther looked up to him, tears streaming down her face, "Whatever?"

Mikael nodded, grief evident on his face, though he tried to hide it. Klaus had seen that look on Mikael's face before, once, when they buried Henrik.

"Take me from this place," Esther said desperately, "Far away, where I need never think of it again."

Mikael stared at her shocked, before lowering to his knees, making himself eye level with her, "I know not where we can go, but I will try." There was a strange sound, one that Klaus couldn't comprehend until he saw it. Mikael was crying.

Klaus stared at them, his parents, not the gods of love, hate, war and death that Klaus knew them as, but people, battered by the tragedies of life, and the hateful decisions of others.

"I know of a place," Ayana said, walking out of the shadows, "I heard of it in my dreams. A land far away, across the ocean itself."

"Beyond even the eyes of the gods," Esther said, latching onto the idea with all her hope, all her sanity, "We must go there, we will have more there I can feel it."

Mikael looked at her for a moment, struck by her sudden zeal for this land beyond the waters, "It will take time to build vessels worthy of such a trek, and to get supplies. But for you I will."

"You will not abandon me?" It was a question and a command.

"No, I am yours, as he was, always and forever."

Klaus found himself back in his home, a sense of finality about the scene, Ayana would not show anymore.

* * *

"We sailed a few months later, to what would become known as Virginia. There we found the Áńt'į́ people, who'd made an alliance with a pack of werewolves who'd been banished 'beyond the world' centuries ago. Esther and I were able to negotiate ourselves into their alliance, and for a time again, we lived in peace."

"Who was my father?" Klaus asked, asking the one question whose answer he'd desired for a thousand years.

"I don't know," Ayana said, sympathy in her eyes, she was the only person Klaus wouldn't have killed for such a display, "Esther never told me. I didn't even know you weren't Mikael's son until your attempt on Rebekah's life."

"I didn't-"

"You didn't mean to, you acted impulsively on aggression, such as all werewolves do. It is the form the curse takes before its true power is unleashed, but I digress, I don't know who he is. If I had to guess though, he was a man like Erik. I think on some level, Esther tried to superimpose Erik onto Mikael, however, though they looked physically identical, they never had the same personality, and grief had caused them to deviate further. However, your birth changed something, you know. Esther and Mikael began to talk; I think they genuinely began to fall in love with each other. And from there, you know the rest of the story."

"Why did they keep this all a secret?"

"It seems easier to people for them to bury their pain and pretend it is an illusion, than tell it and face the horror of its reality, in the end though, this only causes more pain. As long as this family continues to hide truths from each other, there will always be another betrayal coming. The cycle will continue everyone is dead, and the world scorched in the crossfire. That is why I tell it, Esther will be angry, she has lived with these so long, I doubt she even knows how to tell them, but the story must be known. I leave you now, to ponder what you have learned."

"…Ayana," She turned to face him, "Dahlia, do you truly believe she to be so powerful as to best time itself."

"I learned a long time ago not to assume her incapable of anything. Now, see to Elijah."

Klaus turned to see Elijah sitting on the bed and staring at him, a predatory look in his eyes, "Hello brother."

* * *

Kol got up off the bed, walking towards the shower, the oils and scents that were part of the fertility spell were beginning to feel disgusting.

"Well, I admit there are worse ways to perform a transaction," Hecate said, smiling as she lay in bed.

Kol chuckled, "Yes, I suppose there are."

"Enjoy access to our tomes and grimoires."

"Enjoy raising your brat."

"You don't want any part in the parenting?"

"Oh please, your father wouldn't permit it. Big bad Kol far too bad an influence over the little L'Estrange heir. And besides, I only like kids when they've gotten old enough to know when to shut up, that's why I never had any back when I was mortal."

"Really? Not a one? Does that mean you were a virgin before you turned?"

"Ha," Kol said sarcastically, "No, I just made sure never to knock anyone up, so congrats on carrying my first."


End file.
